


We're Not So Different, You And I

by orphan_account



Category: Euphoria (TV 2019), Supernatural
Genre: Castiel is Jack Kline's Parent, Demisexuality, Drug Abuse, Drug Addiction, Drug Use, F/F, F/M, Flash Thompson Being A Jerk, Gen, Human Jack Kline, Hurt Jack Kline, Inspired by Euphoria (TV 2019), Jack Kline Feels, Jack Kline Whump, Overdosing, Trans Jack Kline, Underage Drug Use
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-08-02
Updated: 2020-08-26
Packaged: 2021-03-06 01:21:34
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Rape/Non-Con, Underage
Chapters: 7
Words: 23,408
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25665073
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: they've never met, don't even know of each other's existence actually, but jack and rue's stories parallel a little too well.[ abandoned ]
Relationships: Castiel/Kelly Kline (Supernatural), Jack Kline & Peter Parker, Max/Stacy (Supernatural: Lebanon), Rue Bennett/Jules Vaughn
Kudos: 2





	1. We Could Do So Much Better Than This

**Author's Note:**

> this is inspired by an au edit i made on my instagram!! : https://www.instagram.com/p/CC_9V6SnOGK/?igshid=6j006wx8xs7u  
> •×•  
> \- this will go back and forth between rue and jack's povs  
> \- jack is human and in highschool, this is NOWHERE NEAR canon!!  
> \- jack's and rue's ages are the same, give or take a couple months apart  
> •×•  
> here's a sort of like key to some symbol combinations i use!  
> -×- : pov change, a parallel is about to be shown  
> ••• : time skip, same pov  
> •◇• : scene change

rue reached over to the nightstand, taking the prescription bottle of oxycontin off of it and popping open the bottle, "what do these feel like?" she asked her father, who was laying beside her with machines hooked up to him to try and keep him living, "the absolute worst." he replied calmly and rue nodded, pouring out one of the pills and helping her father take it.

after school, the thirteen year old would take care of her sickly father since her mother wasn't home to do so, needing to take up two jobs to cover medical bills and the state-issued nurse only came by for twou hours, plus during those two hours she did fucking nothing besides play mobile games on her phone. it wasn't like rue hated doing it, but it wasn't that great either because while she loved spending time with her dad, seeing him so ill and tired was hard to deal with.

rue opened up the bedside drawer to put the prescription bottle away, looking into it and seeing an ocean of other medications that were helping her dad feel even the slightest bit better as cancer cells multiplied in his body. the prescription pills in each bottle seemed to call out to rue, and while she wasn't a stranger to how narcotics could make you feel, there was just something about those pills that really caught her attention and she found herself opening one of the bottles as quietly as she could, taking one of the pills out and placing it in her hand.

after staring down at the small yellow-ish pill in her palm, rue placed it on her tongue and took a sip of water to make it go down before settling back into the bed with her father, wrapping herself up in a knitted pink blanket and looking up at the tv as it played "i love lucy", the pill slowly taking affect and she leaned on her dad's shoulder, who was too high to notice that his daughter was just as high as he was.

rue looked up at her father, a small smile on her face as she listened to him laugh, "i always have the best time with you." she mumbled and he smiled, lazily holding her hand in his own, "me too."

  
**-×-**

  
jack didn't know how to feel about hospitals because while you're there, they aren't pleasant; the rooms are either too bright or too dark, nurses wake you up in the middle of the night to check your vitals once you actually fall into a deep enough sleep for it count as sleep, the food is barely even mediocre and while it depends on what you get its still never above okay, not to mention the pain you're in that got you to be in the hospital in the first place.

but, once you leave, he starts to miss the form of peace that it brought; you miss the way that nurses made sure you were okay, the way that you could move your bed to fit your comfort level, the way that whenever you needed something there was someone there to get it for you, the way that you're looked after and kept as comfortable as possible despite it being hard to do so.

jack watched the hospital slowly leave his view as his father drove away from the building, having just been released from a week long visit due to his appendix deciding to rupture and cause an abscess in his abdomen, said week being filled with pain and anxiety and a breakdown or two, not to mention a coupke medications that they sent prescriptions to jack's parents for the healing process.

this hospital stay was jack's first exposure to any type of narcotic, having managed to get through thirteen years of life without needing a reason to get oxycontin or codeine or some other type of pain medication pumped into his bloodstream, also the first time he had such a deep panic attack, the reason for it he couldn't even remember, that the only thing that calmed him down was a dose of liquid valium.

the valium, followed by the several other doses of pain medications throughout the week, introduced jack to a sensation he had never felt before; it was like the channels that his brain were flipping through were only getting static until someone finally found a channel that played a tv show with the perfect story. it was absolute contentment and it was one of the best things that jack had ever felt, leaving him with a strong desire to experience that beautiful feeling again.

he knew that he would be given a prescription for a pain medication, unsure which one, but once the bottle ran out it would only raise concern if they refilled it since the medication was meant to be enough to last until the time he would be healed to not need it anymore.

before jack knew it, his father was pulling into the driveway of their home and everyone was making their way out, his little sister maggie following their parents into the house, jack slowly making his way out of the car himself and following his sister's lead, seeing his father place the paper bag of prescription pills that were meant for jack on the kitchen counter and the blonde looked at the bag, going over to it and picking it up, "is it okay if we keep these in my room? it would help me remember to take the antibiotics on time."

castiel, his father, shrugged, "sure, i don't see why not."

jack nodded with a smile, taking the paper bag and going to his room, shutting the door behind him and looking inside the bag, pulling out the prescription bottles and opening his desk drawer, placing the antibiotics' bottle inside and looking at the bottle, seeing a name that he would rather not go by and the words "oxycodone" on the label, staring at it for a moment before twisting off the cap and picking out one of the little white pills, placing it on his tongue and struggling to swallow it dry but managing.

jack put the medication away in his drawer before sitting down on his bed, pulling out his phone and putting his headphones in, laying down and listening to music as he felt the medication take affect.

  
**•◇•**

  
"i don't understand why its such a big deal." jack mumbled as he looked up at his mother, who was holding her wallet, "jack, fourty dollars in cash went missing from my wallet and neither i nor your father used it." she spoke, "i already told you that i didn't take it, ask maggie about it."

"maggie is eleven years old, what would she need fourty dollars for?"

"i dunno, the bookfair at school happened recently and they're expensive." the teenager shrugged, not looking his mother in the eyes because he knew exactly where that money went; it went into his pocket because he met a senior student named clark a couple weeks ago, thanks to a small friend group he found his way into, and now he had a way to get opiates that wasn't stealing a couple of them at a time from his uncle when his family goes to visit.

the only problem was that this way costs money that he doesn't really have.

"you and i both know that maggie is too scared to even go into my purse without asking, so i'm gonna ask again; what happened to the forty dollars in my wallet?"

jack groaned and rolled his eyes, "it's forty dollars, what's the big deal?!"

"i just want to know what happened to it, jack." kelly repeated calmly, but jack was already worked up and the teenager stood, "i didn't even take it and it's not even that big of a deal! you and dad make good money, its just fourty dollars!" he snapped and kelly clenched her jaw, trying to keep herself calm because she really didn't want to get into a fight with her son, "i don't care if its four or four hundred dollars, what matters here is that someone took it from me and i just want to figure out who did."

"literally anyone in this fucking city could've taken it! i'm not the only person here, so what makes you think i took it?!"

having heard all the shouting, castiel had come into the room, with maggie behind him but she kept her distance as her father went to break up the fight between her mom and older brother, "jack, you need to calm down." castiel spoke and he put his hand on jack's shoulder, gently pushing him away from kelly and getting in between them, "mom's acting like a committed the worst crime in the world when i--!"

"she's just asking if you know where the money went, jack, you're getting worked up over nothing."

"she didn't just ask, she kept pushing after i denied it because it just _has_ to be me who stole the money! what would i even fucking--"

"jack, language."

jack gawked at his father, laughing humorlessly, "oh my god, that's what you took from that?! a _word_?! mom's accusing me of stealing from you guys and you're telling me to watch my language?! its a _fucking_ word!" he snapped, getting in castiel's face and the man remained calm, "if you didn't take the money, why are you so worked up over it?" he spoke calmly and jack went silent, fists and jaw clenched tightly with his lips pressed into an angry grimace, huffing angrily before stomping off, "jack, where do you think you're going?!"

"away from you!"

with that said, jack slammed his bedroom door shut and locked it, grabbing an old backpack that he used for packing and he threw a few things that he needed for a night away inside of it before going into his desk drawer, pulling out one of the bags of white powder that he bought from clark and shoving it in his jacket pocket along with his phone, putting his backpack on and opening his bedroom window that led to the alleyway behind the block he lived on, jumping out of it and blasting music in his headphones before he took off running.

  
**•••**

  
jack walked up to his the front door of his aunt's apartment, breathing heavily and watching his breath come out in visible clouds in the cold night air, knocking loudly on the door a few times and leaning against the one of the walls of the hallway as he tried to catch his breath, the door opening and he looked up, seeing a rather surprised red head as she looked at her nephew, "h-hello, aunt rowena."

"jack, what......" rowena trailed off, sighing a little before leaning forward and putting her hand on the boy's back, "come in sweetheart, not good for you to be out in the cold in such a thin coat." she cooed as she brought him inside, shutting the door behind them as he walked in, noticing the distressed look on his face and the bag over his shoulders, "are you......are you alright?" she cooed, but was only met with silence as the young teen paced a little in her living room, "do you want me call your parents?"

"no!"

rowena's eyes widened at jack's outburst, "i-i just need to stay here tonight, just one night that's all."

"why?"

jack's face fell, jaw quivering a little before he pressed his lips together and looked down, "i.....i got into a fight with my parents." he mumbled, crossing his arms over his chest and sort of hugging himself, "i-it wasn't even a fight, i just yelled at then because i didn't want to tell the truth, and i.....i just ran." he continued, voice wavering and she couldn't see his face well but rowena just knew that there was tears forming in his eyes, "i don't know why i got so mad, she was just asking me questions and i guess i was just annoyed, but that doesn't mean its okay for me to just yell at her like i did and my dad too......oh god, maggie was there and i was yelling and cursing at my parents because of some stupid money." he rambled, beginning to spiral and rowena walked forward, gently putting a hand on his cheek and looking at his face, seeing tears threatening to spill, "breathe sweetheart, everything will be alright."

"i'm the worst son ever."

"oh jack, don't say that. it was just a little argument, i'm sure if you called your mother or father now, they would just want to make sure you're okay."

jack sniffled, ".....can i call them in the morning? i-i just can't talk to them right now and i know that sounds dumb, i just can't, auntie ro, i can't." he mumbled, tears running down his cheeks and she gently wiped them away, "i'll call them myself and let them know where you are, at least." she sighed and he nodded, wiping at his face and she smiled softly, "go to the guest room, dear, you know where it is." she cooed as she gave jack's shoulder a loving pat and the blonde nodded before walking off, going to the guest room and locking the door behind him.

jack dropped his backpack on the floor, tugging off his shoes and putting them on the floor beside the bed before sitting down onto it, sighing heavily and pressing his fists against his eyes to try and stop himself from crying, angry as hell at himself but the idea of talking to his parents after yelling at them the way he did makes him panic; there's no damn way that they aren't pissed at him, he screamed and cursed at them over some money that he did take but its not like he was going to admit that, he stole from his parents! it's not like he asked for fourty bucks, he just went into his mom's purse and took it because he wanted drugs.

speaking of drugs, jack fished into his pocket and pulled out the small dime bag filled with white powder, staring at it and squeezing it between his pointer and thumb before he pulled out a crumbled dollar bill from his back pocket and he poured a tiny bit of the powder onto the nightstand beside the bed, folding the dollar and forming little lines with the powder before rolling it up, sniffing up the lines and letting out a heavy sigh, wiping his nose and making sure there wasn't residue on the table.

once he put away all the evidence, jack shrugged his jacket off and put it down beside his backpack, laying down on the bed and listening to music through his headphones, letting the high take over and eventually drag him into sleep.

  
**-×-**

  
rue froze as the light in the hallway suddenly flickered on, "where have you been?" her mother, leslie, asked in an obviously irritated tone and rue slowly turned around, "sorry, my phone died."

"bullshit, you're doing drugs."

"i'm not doing drugs, mom."

"then where have you been? and why weren't you answering your phone? and why are you sneaking into the house?" leslie questioned, walking closer to her daughter, "i was with some friends." she shrugged and her mother raised a brow, "who?" 

"it doesn't matter--"

"it matters, rue! it matters becuase you're doing drugs!"

due to the yelling, gia's bedroom door opened and she poked her head out, looking at her older sister, "gia, go hack to sleep." leslie cooed but gia kept her eyes on rue, "rue.....are you okay?" she asked and rue's heart sank, feeling bad for scaring her sister like this just because she took a little too much and crashed for a little too long, "yeah, gia, i'm fine you can go back to sleep." she cooed and leslie shut gia's door as the young girl stepped back into her room, turning back to her eldest daughter and stepping forward, "i will not allow you to walk into this house, at five-thirty in the morning, and lie to my face, so tell me the truth right now; where were you?"

"......mom, i don't want to have to tell you everything that's going on in my life, if you wanna drug test me then drug test me." rue shrugged, too hungover to care all that much and leslie sighed, the two going to the bathroom to take a drug test that rue was going to lie her way through.

  
**•◇•**

  
gia slowly walked towards her sister's bedroom, having heard a loud thud and feeling the need to investigate, "rue?" she called, hoping to get an answer but just heard a faint groan instead so she kept walking, "rue?" she tried again, still not getting a response other than the faint sound of heavy breathing, and gia put her hand on the door knob, afraid of what she was going to find but she pushed it open anyway, gasping at what she found.

there rue was, lying down on her bedroom floor in a puddle of her own vomit, struggling to breathe.

  
**•••**

  
gia watched a paramedic roll her unconscious older sister onto her side before giving a shot of narcan into her hip, "can you grab me a towel?" the woman asked, but gia couldn't move, too focused on the fact that her sister was fighting for her life in front of her eyes, "gia, i need you to grab me a towel." she requested and while gia wanted to help, all she could make herself do was turn around so that woman wouldn't see her cry, two more paramedics pushing past her with a gurney.

gia watched as rue was wheeled out of her bedroom on a gurney, no longer covered in her own vomit at least but still unconscious as they wheeled her outside to the ambulance, gia following them out to the living room and watching through the window as her big sister was loaded into an ambulance before it drove off, keeping her eyes on it until she couldn't see it anymore.

"i'll stay with you until your mother gets home." a paramedic cooed, gia turning around to look at her, "wanna watch some tv?" she asked nicely but gia didn't reply, just wiped at her face even though more tears were to come.

  
**-×-**

  
"what is it?" 

jack shrugged at max's question, "no idea." he muttered as he took the dime bag with four pink pills with little designs etched onto the them back from the blonde girl, "clark sold them to me the other day, haven't gotten a chance to use 'em yet and since we're all here...." he trailed off with a smile, looking at his three friends who were sitting in a circle around a coffee table in eliot's living room.

eliot's parents were not home for a couple days, so he took the opportunity to invite his friends over to just hang out and do whatever the fuck, the four of them having been drinking and smoking for a couple hours now, jack also being high on things besides weed but nobody in the group was a stranger to his addiction, they had been friends with him for a couple years now at this point and whenever he bought something fun from clark he was willing to share; hence why he was waving a bag of lsd-esque pills in front of his friends.

"didn't you just get into a fight with your dad about this shit?" eliot asked and jack sipped on his drink, "perhaps." he muttered, "and haven't you also done a fuck ton of drugs already tonight?" max added and jack looked over to her, "you watched me do them, didn't you?" he asked and the blonde rolled her eyes as she put her head on her girlfriend's shoulder, "i feel like this isn't that good of an idea." stacy mumbled and jack sucked in some air through clenched teeth, "kinda disagree." he breathed out with a smile and stacy sighed, shaking her head with a small smile.

"soooo.......?"

eliot, max, and stacy, exchanged looks before eliot shrugged and turned back to jack, "let's give this a shot, hopefully none of us die." he joked and jack laughed, taking out all the pills and handing one to each of his friends, all of them putting the pill in their mouths and swallowing it.

  
**•••**

  
jack stepped into the bathroom, looking at his distorded reflection in the mirror for a bit before digging into his pockets, pulling out a dime bag with a small amount of white powder at the bottom, the bag had obviously been used several times and was about to run out, might as well use the rest, right?

jack pulled his house key out of his pocket, collecting powder onto it and sniffing it off, repeating the process until the bag was empty and he sighed, shoving his key and the empty bag into his pockets, washing his hands before leaving the room and heading back into the living room, finding his friends who were still tripping just like he was, dancing to music and having fun, a smile spreading on his face at the sight.

jack grabbed his drink off the coffee table, chugging the last bit of alcohol that was left before joining his friends and dancing like an idiot with them, screaming lyrics and just having a great time, even as his head spun like a teacup ride that someone was going way too fast on and his body began to feel a little numb, but he didn't pay much attention to it; this feeling has happened before and nothing went wrong, if anything it was better when the highs got that intense.

jack stopped dancing to catch his breath, breathing kinda heavy and swaying on his feet a little as he grew a little tired, grabbing onto eliot's arms to balance himself and the red head stopped dancing as well, looking at his friend and noticing his face going sort of pale as well his hands beginning to shake, "what's wrong?" he asked, getting worried and the blonde laughed a little, "m'just...... _so_ happy." he mumbled, his words slurring a bit and eliot was convinced, but didn't press it and jack let go of his arms, going back to dancing but stopping as his vision got dark, stumbling back and grabbing the wall to stay upright while putting another hand to his head as his vision kept going in and out, max and stacy noticing the blonde's stumble and they stopped, looking at their friend with worry, "jack, what's wrong?"

jack opened his mouth to respond, stanmering for words but nothing came out, instead his legs gave out and collapsed, catching himself a little by being able to keep himself up in a sitting position, "jack!" stacy cried and she rushed over to her friend, the boy coughing roughly and bringing up a mouthful of vomit that splashed down his front before his eyes rolled back, going limp and crumbling to the ground, losing consciousness.

"eliot, go call 911!"


	2. Swimmin' In Pools Of Momentary Bliss

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> some violence and homophobia ahead!!

jack kept his gaze out the window, hugging a small pillow to his chest as he stared at the city lights as the car that his father was driving slowly made its way out of the city that jack called his home, a moving van following close behind his family's car; living in the city just didn't feel like a good idea to castiel and kelly anymore, it just felt better to go somewhere else and have a fresh start, even if that meant finding new jobs and schools and housing.

all this because jack's an asshole druggie who wouldn't listen to his friends when they told him that he'd had enough; he'd scared his friends and family shitless by putting himself in a coma and now he'd got himself a trip to rehab, said rehab being miles away from home and his stay there would last most of his summer vacation.

god, he was pathetic.

jack jumped a little as he felt a hand on his knee, taking a headphone out and turning his head to see his mother was trying to get his attention, "jack, i know that this is really hard." kelly cooed in a hushed voice, as maggie was fast asleep in her seat beside her brother, it was rather late after all, "but, we're all here for you. whatever you're dealing with right now, we're here to help you through it, okay? we all love you, so much." she continied and jack smiled softly at her, "i know, mom."

"and you will get past this. you're so strong, jack, and with the right help, you'll get to where you wanna be."

jack just smiled at his mom, nodding a little and she smiled back, removing her hand from his knee and turning back around in her seat, looking back to the road and jack did the same, leaning against the window and curling up slightly, clinging to the pillow and listening to the music in his ears.

  
**-×-**

  
"we recommend taking her directly to a rehabilitation center." the nurse behind the hospital counter spoke as she handed leslie a pamphlet and some forms, gia, who was standing beside her mother, turning her head and seeing rue walk down the hospital hallway and towards her, still wearing a hospital gown and carrying a bag with her shoes in it.

the older teen began to dance as she made her way down the hall, trying to get her little sister to smile and smiling wider when her attempt worked, opening her arms for a hug and gia gladly accepted it, the sisters hugging tightly and rue looked to her mom, giving an awkward smile as she couldn't even imagine what leslie was feeling right now, the two breaking away and turning towards their mother as she grabbed her purse, "lets go." the woman sighed and the family left the hospital, heading towards their car and climbing inside.

the silence that filled the car was almost unbearable, rue wanting to do something to break the silence and make her sister and mother smile, but she was the one who made them upset in the first place so maybe it wasn't the wisest decision to do something; however, when a song that everyone in the car knew very well started to play on the radia, rue saw her opportunity and she turned in her seat, smiling at gia and then looking to her mother with the same smile before she turned once again, singing along with the words, "c'mon, i know you know this song!"

gia smiled, laughing a bit and rue reached over the seat, grabbing her hand and the two sang along, leslie joining them and all three of them smiled and laughed, rue being as dorky as possible to make the mood in the car remain bright.

  
**•◇•**

  
"there's this new kid in town i think you gonna be friends with." 

rue chuckled at fez, "you said the same thing a week ago." she muttered and fez shrugged, "maybe, but y'all are friends now, ain't you?" he replied and rue nodded; fez had been right that she would befriend jules, maybe he'll be right about this one too. "who's the new kid?"

"i 'on't know, just came in the other day lookin' kinda like he didn't wanna be here and i'm thinkin' to myself; look like someone rue would get along with."

"did he have as much hatred for this town as the rest of us?"

"seemed like it." fez muttered, smoke leaving his mouth as he spoke, "ashtray in the back?" rue asked and fez nodded, the teenager smiling at him before turning around and walking inside the convenience store, stepping into the back to talk to her dealer.

  
**•••**

  
"i dunno, jules..."

"you'll have fun, i promise!" rue heard jules beam as she exited the convenience store, turning her head and seeing the blonde girl standing with a blonde boy that she'd never seen before, was that the new kid fez was talking about? he did look like he didn't wanna be here, just like the vague description fez gave him; brown canvas jacket and a faded band tshirt where the logo was almost unreadable, accompanied by washed out jeans and rue couldn't exactly tell from her distance, but it looked like he had his nails painted.

"fine, fine, i'll go."

jules smiled wider and hugged the boy, taking him off guard but he laughed and patted her back, "i better get home, my sister can't be alone for long, see you later." he muttered as she pulled away and he climbed onto his bike, "bye jack!" jules called as he pedaled away, the blonde waving at her before he pedaled out of sight, rue walking over to her friend, "are you replacing me already?"

jules turned at rue's voice, rolling her eyes and lightly smacking rue's shoulder with a smile, "shut up."

"no, but seriously, who was that? bambi?"

"his name's jack, he just moved here so i told him to come to mckay's tonight, he needs to mingle." she explained and rue nodded, "a house full of annoying highschoolers is the perfect place to mingle." she joked and jules laughed, "it's the only place he could mingle at the moment."

  
**•◇•**

  
jack got off his bike, walking up onto the lawn of the house that jules told him to go to and dropping his bike off onto the grass as he walked to the front door, opening it and being met by loud music that everyone in his generation seemed to enjoy except him, making his way through the sea of highschoolers and finding the kitchen because he needed a drink before he looked for jules; he was riding the end of a high right now and things were getting too loud again.

jack really hoped that coming to this party was worth it, he wasn't really a party person and the drug test he lied his way through before he lied to his parents about where he was going was a lot of work to just show up to a party that his friend practically forced him to go to and drink some shitty alcohol.

speaking of alcohol, an opened bottle of wine sat on the counter and jack grabbed it, also grabbing a red cup from the stack of them and pouring a generous amount of the dark red liquid into it, gulping it down before filling it again, this time just sipping on it and turning away from the counter to go on a hunt for jules, a.k.a the only reason he came here.

as jack turned, an angry male student walked in and smacked an almost empty bottle of alcohol off the counter infront of jack, making the blonde jump back in surprise and he backed away to the wall, waiting for the stranger to leave because he did not feel like he would be able to walk past him without something happening, said stranger downing a shot before throwing the shot glass; what the fuck was this dude's problem?

"get the fuck outta the kitchen! get the fuck out!" the student screamed, the few girls he was screaming at backing out of the kitchen and jack put his drink down, going to do the same but as he looked up, he locked eyes with the guy and immediately his anxiety skyrocketed, "the fuck are you looking at?"

jack stammered for a response, keeping his back to the wall and the stranger started walking towards him, "who are you?" he asked with such venom in his tone that jack was afraid to respond but also terrified to stay quiet, "i-i'm jack.....i'm a friend of--"

"a friend of who? who're you friends with 'cause you're not my fucking friend, who the fuck are you friends with, jack?"

jack opened his mouth, but the stranger didn't let him respond before he turned to the group of people that had started gathering around the kitchen, "you guys know who the fuck this is?" he asked, not getting a response but he kept going, "does anybody know who this fucking faggot is?! does anybody know who the _fuck_ jack is?! anyone at all?!"

jack cringed at the slur, not surprised to hear it come out of this guy's mouth; he seemed like the homophobic jock type, plus jack was wearing a trans-flag patterned crop top with his washed out jeans and underneath his also washed out denim jacket that was covered in pins and patches of all kinds, plenty of pride pins included and not to mention there was a bit of makeup on his face because the last chance he got to wear makeup was back in the city and he missed doing it.

the stranger turned back to jack, clicking his tongue as he shrugged, "so, who are you?" he asked rather calmly and jack crossed his arms over his chest, "i'm just minding my own business, i'm not trying to start anything." he muttered and the jock shook his head, getting directly in jack's face, "nobody that looks like you is just "minding their own business"." he replied and jack wished he could back up more as this guy was practically on top of him now, but there was no space for him to move. "i know what you are, yeah, i see you. so, what is it? do you just want some fucking attention? 'cause i'll give you some fucking attention."

jack clenched his jaw, gripping onto his sleeves as the stranger breathed on his skin, being way too fucking close for someone who was just calling him a faggot a minute ago, "is anybody here friends with _jack_?" the guy called again, backing up a little and turning to the crowd, "does anyone know who the fuck this little queer is?!" he shouted and jack looked around, trying to find a way out of this situation as this asshole paced around the kitchen, "somebody better say something or else this faggot is gonna get fucked up!"

as the jock got back in jack's face, the blonde grabbed the small steak knife off the counter, pointing it at the guy, who immediately got scared as the crowd around them gasped as they saw the knife in jack's hand, "you want to fucking hurt me?!" jack screamed, now it was the asshole's turn to back away as jack got in his face, "dude, what the fuck?!"

"i thought you were gonna fuck me up! am i too fucking easy for you?!"

"put the knife down, it was just a joke--"

"oh, it was just a joke?! silly me, that i thought you were gonna fucking hurt me because everyone thought your joke was so fucking funny!" jack screamed, pissed and doing whatever he could to make sure this asshole didn't fuck with him again, "you still gonna "fuck this little faggot up"?! what's your fucking problem?!"

"no, no! j-just put the knife down, i don't--"

"don't fucking mess with me!"

as jack screamed, he swung the knife a little too close to his arm and sliced the skin, blood immediately spilling out and everyone gasped, "jesus christ, you're fucking insane!" the jock screamed, "i'm insane?! how about you don't fucking take your little pissy bitch boy anger out on random ass people?! you fucking cunt!" jack cried before slamming the knife down into the nearby cutting board, getting it to stick up straight out of the wood and the room went silent, the blonde realizing just how many people were staying at him now.

  
**-×-**

  
"by the way, i'm jack. i just moved here."

jack smiled at everyone and waved as he made his way out of the room and out of the house, rue's eyebrows raised in shock as the little blond boy that she saw earlier today had some serious fucking guts for pulling a knife on nate jacobs, "holy fuck." jules, who was standing beside her, breathed out before going towards the front door, "where are you going?"

"to make sure jack doesn't bleed out on mckay's lawn." yeah, that was probably a good idea.

rue followed jules out the door, speeding her pace up to meet them outside just to see jules walk over to jack, blood leaking down his arm and staining his hand, "shit, are you okay?" she blurted out as she saw how much jack was actually bleeding, the blonde looking up at her, "huh? oh, yeah, i'll survive."

"did you, uh.....mean to do that?"

"no, but it got that prick to back the fuck up, so there's a plus." jack shrugged as he picked up his bike, "you got some fucking power to pull a knife on nate like that, mad respect for making him piss his pants." rue smiled and jack laughed, "oh, i'm rue by the way." she added and offered her hand, jack shaking it with his not-bloody hand, "i'd say that my name is jack, but you heard him shout my name a million times."

jules gently grabbed jack's injured arm, pulling up his sleeve to look at the cut more, "you're not gonna bike home with this, are you?" she asked and jack shook his head, "even if i didn't have this, i wouldn't bike home. can't really show up crossfaded after you get out of rehab, you know?" he muttered as he mounted his bike, "i was, uh........i don't know where i'm gonna go."

jules walked over to where she had her bike parkes, which was only across the driveaway and she wheeled back over, "just follow me." she smiled and looked to rue, motioning for her to come with and rue mounted on the bike with jules, wrapping her arms around the blonde's waist, "jules--" jack started but she stopped him, "no objections! follow me!" she beamed before pedaling away and jack scrambled to follow, "you've known me for five fucking days, you can't just bring me to your hohse!" he shouted as he tried to catch up to her and jules laughed, "i absolutely can!"

  
**•••**

  
jack curled up in the cushioned chair in the corner of jules' room, rubbing his thumb over the bandage wrapping that the blonde girl had applied, "does it hurt?" rue asked from her spot on jules' bed and jack looked up, shaking his head before tugging the blanket that jules had given him around his shoulders, rue watching as he pulled out his phone.

it was kinda crazy that not even an hour ago, jack was pointing a knife at one of the most popular jocks at their school; he really didn't look like the type of person to even hurt a fly, but when make assumptions about someone, they usually turn out incorrect.

jack turned his phone off, tapping the case a few times and looking around the room before his eyes landed on the two girls, "i've got an idea." he mumbled and jules sat up, "what?" she asked and jack smirked, "you guys wanna get high?"


	3. They Worry You Keep On Adding, I Think You Gotta Crawl

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> some gross speech and minor non-con in this chapter!  
> •×•  
> \- this takes place in the mcu, you'll learn why eventually  
> \- also none of these characters are gonna be "in character", i'm not that good of a writer skdksks

jack walked into the main room of his family's new house, hearing his mom talking to someone on the phone over medical stuff, the blonde having a feeling that it related to him in some way considering that he was physically fucked as well as mentally; the list of immune disorders he had wasn't as short as it should be.

"did you see that video of tony stark saying he was gonna run for president?" maggie asked as jack walked up to the dining table, "was he being deadass?" the blonde asked and maggie shrugged, "don't think so, but he couldn't do worse than who we're dealing with now." she mumbled and jack nodded, "mom, you got any pads?" he asked as he turned to his mother, kelly moving the phone away from her mouth, "in my bathroom, under the sink." she muttered and jack thanked her before heading to his parents' bathroom, locking the door behind him.

truth was, he didn't need pads and even if he did, he knew where they were, he wanted something else.

jack faked a cough as he opened the mirrored cabinet above the bathroom sink, seeing a prescription bottle filled with xanax with his mother's name on it and he grabbed it, popping open the cap and taking one of the pills, swallowing it before putting the bottle away and closing the cabinet, flushing the toilet and looking in the mirror, grimacing at a couple acne spots before he made his way back out into the main room, grabbing his backpack on the way; "c'mon, mags, lets roll."

maggie grabbed her backpack before following her older brother out the door, boarding the school bus.

  
**•••**

  
the first day at a brand new school was making jack's heart race, knowing that most if not all of the students here had seen him pull a knife on the most popular football player here and probably thought he was an insane killer or some bullshit like that.

but, he had made two best friends and for the first time since he'd moved here, he was feeling sorta good about the world.

"JACK!" the boy heard someone scream and he turned around, seeing jules running up to him and getting slammed into as she hugged him, making him nearly fall over but he laughed and hugged back, "it is way too early for you to be so energetic." he muttered as she pulled away and rue walked over, hugging him too but less aggressively, "she's had a lot of caffeine, you'll get used to it." rue shrugged and jules leaned against a nearby pole, "do you hate this school yet?"

"i mean, it's just kind of humiliating to be here, it's like everyone knows."

"same." rue mumbled and jack looked to her, smiling a little at her; a couple days ago, rue had mentioned that she had gotten out of rehab recently, just like jack, and the blonde felt bad for her because it was a small town and she's lived here her whole life, of course everyone would know about her and overdose and while the students knew something wild about jack, it wasn't his overdose and he wouldn't get the weird "you're alive?" questions that she had been getting.

"i doubt _everyone_ knows."

"but i just know the fucking comments and questions from the people who do are just gonna be so _ugh_." jack groaned, rue laughing and jules took both of their hands, "c'mon, we can't be late on our first day." she smiled before the three walked off, making their way to their first period classes.

  
**•◇•**

  
"let's start with a little improvisation exercise."

rue internally groaned at the teacher's words, knowing that this was already going to be hell no matter what she made the class do, looking over to jack who also already seemed to be dreading whatever was to come; "i'd like all of you to come up, one by one, and tell us a five minute story about your summer!" the teacher beamed and rue curled up, really hoping that she didn't get picked, "looks like we have our first volunteer!"

oh no.

"jack, would you come up on stage for us, please?"

rue raised her eyebrows, surprised that she wasn't called given the fact that she was trying to hide and teachers usually do the "i'm going to call out those who don't want to be called" move, but once she turned her head and saw the extreme panic on jack's face, her heart dropped; "can i just stay down here?" he mumbled into his hands, covering his face and the teacher just smiled, "c'mon everyone, lets give our new student a little encouragement!"

jack slowly rose to his feet, hands shaking a little and rue watched him walk towards the auditorium's stage, shoving his hands in his pockets and his eyes looking anywhere but the students staring at him, "uh......what did you want me to do again?" he stammered, "tell us about something that impacted you this summer."

jack's face went a shade paler, rue knowing what was going through his head as he thought of what happened to him this summer; a drug overdose, a shitty trip to rehab, and probably several other things that he hasn't told rue about yet.

"u-uh, well.....i moved here from the city just during the beginning of summer."

"oh, why is that?"

jack swallowed thickly, "i-its a little complicated." he mumbled and the teacher just smiled, "explain it the best you can."

rue was honestly getting pissed; it was so fucking clear that jack didn't want to explain why and whatever he had gone through had given him some trauma, if teachers were human just like the rest of us why couldn't they show some simple human empathy and give the student who was bordering on a panic attack a fucking pass?

jack took a shaky breath, his eyes beginning to wet and he pressed his hands against his eyes, trying to stop the flow of tears that was threatening to come, "i-i'm sorry." he whispered, sniffling a little as he tried to pull himself together, "it's alright, just take a deep breath and try again."

rue heard students whispering behind her, listening in because she had a terrible feeling it was about her friend; "what the hell's wrong with him?" a girl whispered and the girl beside her shrugged, "amy told me that he's apparently some psycho retard druggie; she saw him pull a knife on nate the other day."

rue turned around, "what the fuck is your problem?" she spat in a whisper, turning back around as she heard footsteps echo throughout the auditorium and she saw jack make his way out of the auditorium, tears streaming down his face.

  
**-×-**

  
jack rushed into the nearest bathroom, not caring which one he was in and he slammed a stall door behind him, locking it shut and wiping the tears off his face. he felt like such a fucking idiot, his entire class just watched him have a breakdown because he had a shitty summer.

jack couldn't even blame anyone besides himself for how shitty his summer went; he was the one who overdosed despite his friends trying to make sure he didn't, he was the one who spent weeks at a rehab just to fuck it all up after he got out, he was the one who was putting his loved ones through so much bullshit that it's a miracle they haven't snapped yet.

jack sniffled, taking a deep breath and fishing into his pockets, pulling out a dime bag with white pills inside that he bought from this town's dealer, while ashtray and fez were no clark, they did the job just fine. the blonde one of the pills and crushed it with his phone, using his school id to separate it into lines and he rolled a dollar bill, quickly sniffing up the powder and letting out a heavy sigh, wiping off the excess residue before putting his stuff away, just in time as someone knocked on the stall door.

"jack, it's rue."

the blonde paused at his friend's voice, a little surprised to hear it and he wiped at his face before opening the stall door, seeing a concerned teenager on the other side, "you okay?" she cooed and jack bit his cheek, "no, actually, i'm pretty fucking far from okay."

rue didn't know what to say, knowing what was wrong so it wasn't like she was going to ask and she figured that he didn't want to talk about it, "i just.....i just wanted to see if you were alright." she muttered and jack smiled, "i'm not mad at you, trust me its not you, i'm just fucking livid at myself for being the worst person in the goddamn world." jack sighed before walking away from rue, "that can't be true."

"okay, maybe not the worst but i'm definitely in the top charts because i gave my fucking friends some deep trauma and you'd think my parents spending a shitload of money to help me get better would make me at least consider changing, but no. i'm only more of a cunt than i was at the beginning of summer."

"jack, that doesn't--"

"it doesn't what, rue? make me a bad person?" jack scoffed, "you haven't even known me for a month, okay? you just know a handful about me because if i told you and jules about how actually shitty i was, we wouldn't be friends anymore. which, i should probably just spill anyways because i'll get you two hurt somehow and just add to the list of people who i've hurt, so why should i even waste your fucking time?" he rambled before leaning against the bathroom wall, putting his face in his jands and rue hesitantly walked forward, pulling him into a hug.

"you're right that i haven't known you long and i don't know much about you, but you're not the shitty person you think you are, okay? i get it, i really do, but you're not what your brain tricks you into thinking."

jack didn't say anything, just wrapping his arms around rue and burying his face in her shoulder, trying not to cry anymore.

  
**•◇•**

  
jack followed rue into the church where they were being sort of forced to attend narcotics anonymous meetings; admittedly, jack hadn't been to any of these meetings yet even though rue had been to a handful, he was supposed to have started going a couple weeks ago but the thought of going to these meetings made him kinda nauseous so he just avoided them and lied to his parents, ditching these meetings to both jules and sometimes rue would ditch too.

but, he couldn't avoid these meetings forever and knowing that rue was going made him feel a little better, having some form of company was always nice.

"girl, its your sixty days today, ain't it?!"

rue and jack stopped at the cheerful cry, seeing an older woman walking over to rue and the teenager smiled, nodding and the woman hugged her, "oh, god is so good." the woman smiled as she gave rue's back a pat, rue looking up at jack and awkwardly smiling, the blonde giving her a sympathetic smile back; "now, who's this friend of yours?"

"oh, i-i'm jack, i'm, uh......new to these meetings."

the woman smiled brightly at him, shaking his hand, "there's no need to be nervous, honey, nobody's in a place to judge here." she cooed and jack awkwardly smiled, "take your seats, we're gonna start soon." the woman instructed before walking away and rue put an arm around jack's shoulders, "is it too late to leave?" he mumbled and she laughed, "one meeting won't kill you, at least stay for the donuts."

  
**•••**

  
"hey everyone, my name is rue and i'm an addict."

"hi rue." jack mumbled along with the rest of the crowd, looking up at his friend as she stood at the front of the room and fiddled with her sobriety coin; he and her both knew that she hadn't been clean for anywhere near that long, but accepting that coin was a part of the "i'm getting better" facade. "two months ago, i woke up from a coma, i didn't know what happened but from the looks on my mother and little sister's faces, i knew that whatever it was---whatever i did......it wasn't good......it scared them, it really scared them."

jack looked down, remembering when he had woken up from his coma to see his little sister asleep on a hospital cot and his parents standing outside the room, talking to a doctor; it was terrifying to think that his life could have gotten taken away if the ambulance drivers or doctors weren't fast enough.....or if he hadn't collapsed in front of his friends, covered in his own vomit and barely breathing after taking a little too much oxy and whatever other shit that he bought, he couldn't remember and its not like he wanted to; the knowledge that it even happened was fucked up enough.

"in that moment i least decided to try and change.......'cause i owe it to them and everyone i love and everyone who loves me.......and the hardest part is feeling like i owe it to myself."

hearing rue's words sucked, not that he was angry at her for lying about getting clean but because he was being just as much of a liar as she was; telling those he wanted him to get better that he was getting better and he's been sober for seven weeks, it was fucking awful of him to do.

everything about what he had done was awful, from the first time he ever got high to earlier today when he stole from his parents' medecine cabinet because he ran out of his own drugs; it was beyond depressing and sickening as he kept destroying himself, but hey.....he's found a way to live.

"maybe that'll get easier.....i hope it will." rue sighed and jack looked back up, "thank you." she finished and everyone clapped softly as she walked back to her seat next to jack, "who's next?" the woman from earlier asked as she stepped in front of the room and jack looked around, hoping to see a hand rise and he didn't, feeling like he had to share as it was his first time and he slowly rose his hand, the woman smiling wide once she saw his hand, "come right on up, sweetie."

jack rose to his feet, rue giving him a pat on the back as he got up and he smiled at her, shoving his hands in his pockets as he walked to the front, turning to the crowd and raising a hand in a wave, "h-hello, i'm jack.......i'm an addict."

"hi jack."

the blonde took a deep breath, trying to figure out what he wanted to share with the crowd of strangers, "i, uh.....recently moved here from the city with my parents and little sister." he started off, trying to take it slow but he knew that he was hear to talk about his drug problem, not to make small talk, "before we moved, i was hanging out with some old friends and all of us were using but.....i was using more than i should've and they told me to take it easy but i didn't and, uh......whatever happened next landed me a trip to rehab." he continued and swallowed thickly, burying his hands in his pockets; he hated this story, talking about what happened made his stomach hurt and he knew it was what he had to do at a meeting about getting past a drug addiction, but he wasn't getting past it at all and this was just shitty, but tragically it was semi-mandatory.

"i haven't been here very long, but i've made a couple of really great friends.....they've helped me feel comfortable in this town and hopefully as i get used to living here, other things will get easier......thank you."

everyone clapped and he walked back to his seat, letting out a sigh and putting his head in his hands, rue putting an arm around his shoulders and pulling him in for a side hug.

  
**•◇•**

  
"you two are so fucking slow!"

"obviously breathing is not a priority to you!" rue shouted as her and jack tried to catch up with jules as she sped through the orchard on her bike, several feet ahead of them, jack laughing at rue's remark as they finally caught up to jules but only after she had stopped at the end of the trees, waiting for her friends, "fucking hell, jules, i can barely breathe as it is." jack groaned as he stopped his bike next to the two girls and rue laughed, "it would be easier to breathe if you took your binder off when you were supposed to."

"shut up, you actually want your boobs."

jules and rue giggled at jack, the curly-haired teen clearing her throat, "hey, uh, do either of you wanna come over tonight?" she asked and jack shrugged, "i'd have to tell my parents and make sure nothing's going on, but i'm down." he smiled and jules frowned a little, "i wish, but my dad always wants a family dinner---capital f, capital d---even though its just me and him eating dinner together every single night."

"oh, okay well uh...maybe you could come over sunday night 'cause my mom's been asking about you and shit."

jules beamed at rue's mumble, jack holding back a tease as he knew that jules already had one coming, "you talking to your mama about me?"

"no." rue blushed and jules and jack exchanged a look, laughing a little and rue hid her face, "shut up!" she jokingly cried and jules turned on her bike, "bye guys!" she beamed before pedaling away, her friends waving and saying their goodbyes as they watched her ride off; rue slapped her hand to her face and groaned, knowing how much of a loser she was and jack smiled at her, "are we going directly to yours or what?"

"i, uh, actually have to make a stop at fez's.......kinda out of drugs."

jack shrugged, "all good with me, could probably use some more oc's anyways." he mumbled and thunder crackled above them as the world suddenly got a lot darker, the two teenagers looking up just to be hit with rain drops as the beginnings of a storm brewed, "how epic for us." jack grumbled and rue chuckled, pedaling away and jack followed, trying to ignore the pouring rain.

  
**•••**

  
rue and jack parked their bikes outside of fez's place, rue running up to the front door and immediately slamming her hand on the screen door, "open the door!" she called and jack began banging too, being just as annoying and rue looked up at the camera above the door, flipping it off and they heard the speaker next to the door buzz on, "whaddya want?" ashtray called through and rue rolled her eyes, "open the fucking door." jack groaned before they heard the door unlock and they rushed inside, just in time to hear fezco saying something to ashtray, "---tell 'em to come back, later!"

"too late, bitch!"

fez looked anything but happy to see too soaking wet teenagers enter his house, immediately getting up from the table as rue walked down his hallway to his room to retrieve dry clothes, "hold on, hold on, y'all can't be in here right now!" he called and she just ignored him, jack following fez down the hall as the dealer seemed to be really insistent that him and rue left, "yo, i just need some oxy's and some socks!"

"i can't help you right now, you gotta go."

"rue, i think we should go." jack tried, as he peaked his head into the room that rue was in, seeing her already taking fez's socks as she pulled her soaking wet sweater and jeans off, in just a shirt and boxers, "rue, for real, i ain't fucking playing with you. you can't be in here."

"look, fez; i'm fucking drenched and i'm outta drugs, so.....don't be a dick."

"oh my god, that's not my fucking problem! you two gotta get up outta my house right the fuck now before these motherfuckers come through!" fez shouted, getting really frustrated and jack stayed silent, pulling off his jacket in an attempt to get somewhat warmer, also soaked to the damn bone; "all i need is some oc's and some xannies, and i can be gone."

"i'm trying to tell you that i ain't got shit right now, come back in a few hours and i gotchu, but right now? you gotta get the fuck out my house."

rue clenched her jaw, looking in the room past fez and seeing an old woman hooked up to machines; where there were medical machines, there were drugs. plus, this was a drug dealer's house, ".....i know you have something, fez." she mumbled before standing up, walking out of the room and past jack and fez, "i just told you that i ain't got nothin' for you, c'mon! my guy's about to come through and i need you out the house right now!"

rue just flopped down onto one of fez's couches, staring up at the ceiling, "give. me. drugs."

jack walked over to rue, putting his jacket over one of the kitchen table chairs, leaving him in just his damp shirt and wet black denim shorts, "rue, i really think we should go. i-i can give you some of my xannies if you need them, but we should just--" he started, but his words were cut off as fez's phone buzzed and rue slowly sat up, all three of them staring at the phone as it rang on the kitchen table, fez clenching his jaw and glaring at rue, "i could fucking kill you right now."

jack hesitantly sat down on the couch with rue as fez spoke into a walkie talkie, letting ashtray know people were coming by before collecting stacks of cash into a paper bag, and the blonde curled his knees to his chest as fez walked over to the couch, digging into the cushions between the two teenagers and pulling out a gun to make sure it was loaded; now, rue was really beginning to regret not listening to either of her friends because drugs are great and all until guns get involved.

"look, i'm serious guys. stay right there, keep your mouth shut, and be cool; these dudes ain't fucking around."

jack and rue nodded at fez's instructions, the girl sitting up on her end of the couch and looking to jack, seeing the fear in her friend's eyes and feeling terrible for being too stubborn to leave when he wanted to, but whatever she had gotten them into, it was too late to leave now because the front door had just opened and whoever sold to fez was walking in; "damn, you got two little bitches up in here?" the man called and jack cringed, immediately uncomfortable and rue was feeling the same thing.

"nah man, it ain't anything like that."

the man walked into jack and rue's view, bending down and offering a hand to rue, "pleasure to meet you, sweetheart." he smiled and she went to shake his hand, receiving a kiss on the knuckles instead and she suppressed a shiver, "my name is mouse." he informed before turning to jack, "now, who might you be?" he asked and jack moved his knees away from his chest, "i-i'm jack." he stammered and mouse took the boy's hand, kissing it as well, "pleasure to meet you, angel." he cooed before standing up, "yo cuss, toss me that bag!"

another man tossed mouse a small backpack before leaning on the back of the couch, mouse starting to list off all the drugs he got and rue and jack looked at each with wide eyes after sneaking a peak of the bags of pills on the table; that was a _fuck ton_ of drugs.

fez pulled out a crumpled up paperbag from his pocket, tossing it to mouse and he caught it before handing it to cuss, who went inside and started making sure all the neccessary cash was inside it, "you sure you don't want no fentanyl?"

"nah, i'm off that shit, too many od's and i don't want the heat."

"how 'bout you two?"

mouse made his way back over to jack and rue, taking a seat in between them, "either of y'all tried fentanyl?" he asked and both of them shook their heads, "they good, bro." fez spoke with a tone that showed he did not want either of them touching that shit, and mouse brushed some hair behind rue's ear, "you gonna let this guy talk for you?"

"i-i don't....."

"for real, man, i don't want 'em fucking with that shit."

mouse just ignored fez and put his arm on the back of the couch, "you know that feeling when you cum so hard that you can't hear or feel anything?" he asked in a hushed tone and the two stayed silent, mouse pulling out a pocket knife, "if you like that feelin' then you gonna love this." he smiled as he pulled out a silver patch, poking it with the knife and squeezing a drop of liquid on the dull edge of the blade, offering it to rue who shook her head, "i-i'm good, actually."

to her surprise, mouse shrugged and turned away from her, instead offering the drug to jack, "what about you, angel? wanna give it a shot?" he purred and jack swallowed thickly as the knife got real close to his mouth, "i-i don't know...." he mumbled and mouse smiled, "c'mon, you don't trust me?"

"yo, for real, he's good."

"shut up, bitch, i ain't talking to you!" mouse snapped at fez before focusing back on jack, "don't be scared, pretty boy, it ain't gonna hurt ya." he smiled and jack looked down at the knife and back up at fez, unsure what to do and rue watched closely, anxious for what was going to happen next as the knife got closer to jack's lips and mouse kept pushing him, the blonde taking a deep breath before wrapping his lips around the knife and licking the droplet of fentanyl off.

rue went stiff, looking to fez with such fear in her eyes and fez didn't know what to do; in fact, he couldn't really do anything because jack had already taken the damn drug and it was already taking affect as jack's muscles all visibly relaxed, the blonde slowly sinking into the couch and falling to his side, "it hits quick, don't it?" mouse smiled as the boy practically went limp and laid down on the remaining empty cushions of the couch, "you like the way that feels, angel?"

".....yeah....."

"you wanna couple of patches, baby boy?" mouse cooed as pulled jack's legs into his lap, putting a hand on the boy's thigh that was peakimg out from his shorts, anger beginning to boil in rue's chest as mouse was getting way too touchy, but she was too terrified to do anything to help, "mmm......sure." jack mumbled, voice barely above a whisper as his tongue felt way too heavy in his mouth, just like the rest of his body.

mouse pulled out a couple of silver patches, slipping them in the pocket of jack's shorts, "gonna cost you three hundred."

"but......i only got......two dollars."

"well, how about you pay me some other way?"

if jack were anywhere near sober right now, he'd be throwing a fucking fit as mouse ran his fingers up and down his leg, but his brain was basically numb so he just stayed still, "yea, le's......le's jus' do that." he slurred and rue looked at fez, panicking and the dealer immediately spoke up, "yo, mouse, lemme pay for it, man."

"didn't you hear him? he said he'd pay me, just not with cash." mouse smiled creepily, "and i thought you was too good for fentanyl anyway." he added and fez slid his hand in between the cushions, fingers brushing against the loaded gun that he had had stuck between there, "lemme take care of it, got the money right here too." fez spoke before standing up, pulling out a few fifties from his pocket, counting them out before handing them to mouse.

"well, in that case its gonna cost you six hundred."

"damn, really gonna do me like that?" fez muttered as he pulled the extra cash from his pocket, "yeah, i'm gonna fucking do you like that." mouse smirked as he took the money, counting it out before pocketing the cash, standing up and smiling at the younger man, "always a pleasure doing business with you." he spoke before he gathered his things, him and cuss leaving and once the door shut, fez went into jack's pocket and pulled out the patches.

as fez went into the hallway to hand the drugs to ashtray, rue stood up and grabbed a blanket from the other couch, laying it over jack as her friend was starting to fall asleep and she sat beside jack's head, "flush that shit and grab the narcan, just in case." rue heard fez tell ashtray and she swallowed thickly, hoping to whatever god there was that they didn't need narcan because that usually meant an overdose, which was the last thing she wanted jack to deal with.......again.

"m'so happy." jack mumbled as fez walked in and the dealer sighed, "i know kid, i know." he replied sadly and they heard jack's breathing even out as he slipped into a high-induced sleep, rue looking up at fez, "i can't take him home, to mine or his; our parents would lose it no matter what." she spoke softly, "what about your girl? can she bunk him until he's in the clear?"

rue got up from the couch, going over to where her jeans were and pulling her phone out, going to jules' number in her phone and hoping that she would get an answer as she called her, " _hello_?"

"h-hey jules, i'm sorry to just spring this on you, but i need some help......with jack."

" _are you guys okay? what happened?_ "

rue gulped, peaking into the main room and looking at her unconcious friend on the couch, "i'm alright, just.....we got into some trouble at fez's place and i can't take him home the way he is." she breathed out, heart pounding in her chest at the knowledge that all this was her fault, "could we just come by and stay the night? i-i'm sorry to just put this all on you, it's not--"

" _rue, breathe. i'll help you guys out, just let me know when you're close to my place and i'll meet you outside_."

"thank you so much jules, i'll text you when we get close." rue smiled before hanging up, going back out to the main room after pulling on her still kinda damp clothes, carefully helping fez carry jack out to his truck, climbing into the back and laying jack's head in her lap, blanket still over him and his jacket in a pile on the truck's floor, rue grabbing the boy's hand and holding it in her own as fez started to drive off, trying not to have a panic attack in the backseat of her drug dealer's truck.

rue really fucked up, she fucked up so bad.


	4. It's Wearing Thin, To Think Light Bulb Don't Blink

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> disclaimer that i don't know much about demisexuality aside from the basic definition as i am not demisexual myself, but i wrote in rue being demisexual as i can see her being that.

in all honesty, jack doesn't remember much of anything after that incident with face tattoos and fentanyl, everything kinda blurred together after he put the knife in his mouth and things were still kinda foggy even though it was many hours later, jack having woken up in jules' bedroom with a heavy head to sunlight barely shining through the window as if it was letting him know that he'd been asleep for way too long.

the blonde slowly sat up, seeimg that he was alone in the room and he pulled his knees to his chest, letting out a heavy sigh as he folded his arms over his knees, resting his head and trying to keep calm as the realization that his parents were going to be all over his ass once he came home; oh god, that conversation was going to be such a fucking nightmare.

the sound of footsteps caused jack to look up, seeing the door creak open and jules walk back into the room, on her phone, but once the blonfe looked up and realized that jack was awake, she put her phone and ran over to him, attacking him in a tight hug much to jack's surprise, but the boy hugged back after a moment, "thank fucking god, you're okay." jules mumbled into his shoulder and jack's heart dropped at the extreme relief in her town, guilt pooling in his stomach as he knew how badly he scared his friend, not to mention that rue was probably freaking the fuck out too.

"is rue okay?"

jules pulled away, a little surprised by jack's comment, "y-yeah, yeah, rue's fine, she just had to go home awhile ago before her mom started freaking out." she informed and jack nodded, jules letting out a sigh and removing her hands from jack's shoulders, "i'm so glad you're okay, like rue just called and said that you guys had gotten into some trouble and then fez pulled up in his truck and i had to help them get you inside because you were _out_ \---like completely limp and rue was freaking out and--"

"jules, breathe."

jules stopped at jack's words, the blonde boy smiling at her softly as he put a hand on her shoulder, "i'm okay now, see? i'm fine and so is everything else."

"it isn't fine."

jack furrowed his eyebrows, "i....don't understand, i'm fine aren't i?" he asked and jules sighed, "no, you're not, jack! it was entirely possible that you could've died because of some creepy drug dealer!" she snapped and jack's face fell, looking down in shame because he knew that jules was right, jules putting a hand on the side of jack's head and getting him to look at her, "i love you, okay? you and rue are some of the best friends i've ever had, and i know that what you two are dealing with isn't something you can just let go of, but i just......i want you two to be alive and safe, you know? i really care about you guys and i want you to have coping mechanisms that don't put your life at risk."

jack swallowed thickly, holding back tears as her words reminded her of things that his parents have said, "jules, you know that i love you too, but......what you're asking is so much harder than you think."

"i know its hard and i know that you'll struggle, but i'm more than happy with being by yours and her side to help you both."

"that could take fucking years."

"i don't care about how long it might take, i just want you to be okay."

a small smile appeared on jack's face and he looked down at his lap, "okay......i'll try my best." he muttered and jules leaned forward, hugging him tightly and jack hugged back, burying his face in her shoulder, "have you given rue this talk yet?" he mumbled with a slight joke-y tone, but he actually wanted to know if rue had the talk that he just had, and jules nodded, "before she left, we....we talked for a long time, she's trying too." she informed and jack nodded, taking a deep breath; he really was going to do this, wasn't he?

the faint sound of jack's phone vibrating made him remember that his family didn't know what the fuck was going on and he sighed, knowing what he had to ask and he pulled away, looking up at jules, "......i'm really sorry, but i have a favor to ask you."

  
**•••**

  
jack very carefully opened his house's front door, praying to whoever the fuck that the door wouldn't creak as he pushed it open, slowly shutting it behind him as he snuck back into his house at six in the morning, knowing that once anyone saw him that he was going to get the lecture of his fucking life.

guess that's just what happens when you take drugs from a dude who probably has a criminal record a mile long.

jack slowly tiptoed down the hall, trying to make it to his room without being caught but the hallway light turned on and he froze in place, knowing that he was fucked; "where were you?" he heard castiel ask sternly and he turned around, "uh, my phone died and---"

"bullshit, jack, you're doing drugs."

"i'm not doing drugs."

"then where have you been? and why weren't you answering your phone? and why are you sneaking into the house?"

jack didn't really know how to formulate a lie, as he was still really groggy and sorta hungover, not to mention emotionally drained as hell, "i was with some friends." he tried as he looked up at his dad, who was practically fuming, "what friends and why didn't you message me on one their phones?"

"that doesn't matter--"

"it fucking matters, jack!" castiel spat, keeping his voice a little hushed so that people weren't woken up by their argument, "it matters a lot, actually, because you're doing drugs even though we--" he rambled, stopping as maggie's bedroom door creaked open and the teenager stepped out of her room, in pajamas, "maggie, go back to sleep."

maggie ignored her father as she looked up at her older brother, taking in his exhausted state and fidgeting with her fingers, "are....are you okay, jack?"

"yeah mags, i'm okay, you can go back to sleep."

"he's okay sweetheart, go back to bed." castiel cooed as maggie walked back into her room, shutting the door behind his daughter before taking a deep breath, turning to jack and walking over to him, "i will not allow you to sneak back into our house after sixteen fucking hours of ignoring me and your mother and lie to me; what were you doing?"

jack just sighed, rubbing a hand over his face, "dad, i really don't wanna tell you everything that i'm doing; if you wanna know if i'm actually telling the truth, then just drug test me." he mumbled with a shrug and castiel clenched his jaw, "alright." he breathed out and the two walked to the bathroom, castiel going under the sink and pulling out a drug test with a sample cup, handing the cup to jack before turning around.

the blonde pulled his shorts down before sitting on the toilet, squeezing the bottle that was taped to his thigh because thankfully jules was willing to help, standing up and pulling his shorts back on after finishing "his" business and placing the cup on the counter, castiel turning around and placing the test inside, the two of them sitting in silence as they waited for the results.

once the results read "negative", just like jack knew they would, castiel let out a frustrated sigh and he left the room, "you're still grounded until.....i don't even know." he spoke and jack shrugged as he followed his father out the room, "i told you i wasn't lying." the blonde called before going into his room, ripping the taped bottle off his thigh and tossing it into the trash, flopping down onto his bed and staring up at the ceiling.

guess it was time to start getting his fucking act together.

  
**•◇•**

  
rue stared at the ceiling of jules' room, hanging out with her non-grounded friend as jack was still not allowed to go to places other than school and the narcotics anonymous meetings; christ, it has been a really crazy month and a half.

getting out of rehab only to almost immediately relapse, meeting some of the greatest friends she's ever had within days of each other, both of them being fucking nuts in their own excellent way, continuing to lie to her mother and the crowd at her and jack's n.a meetings, and to top all of it off; she nearly got jack fucking killed all because she didn't want to leave her dealer's house without drugs.

the event with mouse was probably one of the scariest things rue had ever gone through; a big dude covered in tattoos with a gun and knife in his pocket was terrifying enough, but when he puts a knife to your best friend's mouth and practically forces him to take a drug that almost causes an overdose, not to mention he got _way_ too touchy and if rue had a little bit more courage, she would've knocked that fucker out cold.

when rue and fez had shown up to jules' house with jack, rue had just broke down after they got jack into bed, letting out all the pent up emotion from the incident and jules did her best to calm her down, eventually getting the teenager to stop sobbing her little panicked heart out and rue stayed with jack until she started getting texts from her mom, really not wanting to go as jack was still out cold at the time but she didn't have much choice and jules would be there for him.

and now the poor kid was grounded for a fuckton of time, but at least he wasn't dead.

rue looked over to jules, who was doodling a bunch of anime characters that rue didn't know in her sketchbook, "can i ask you a weird question?" she asked and jules looked up at her, smiling a little, "depends on how weird." she teased and rue rolled onto her stomach, "do you......have a lot of one night stands?"

"um.......define "a lot"."

"like.....more than five?"

jules chuckled a little, going back to her drawing with a shrug, "yeah."

"more than ten?"

"i dunno."

".....more than _twenty_?"

jules stopped drawing, looking back to her friend with a smile, "why does it matter?" she asked, "it doesn't.......just a question." rue replied and jules shrugged, "it's not like i keep count, plus who even cares?" she muttered, and rue nodded, resting her head on her hand, "is.....is the sex at least good?"

"i mean, it's not even the point of it all, you know?" the blonde started, putting her sketchbook down on the floor beside her, "its more about the stuff that leads up to it, thats the good part." she added before looking to her friend, ".....you've had one night stands, right?" jules asked and rue faltered, shaking her head a little, ".....no."

"but, you've, like, hooked up with people you just met, haven't you?"

"n-not like that, no."

jules fully turned her body to rue, leaning against her bed, "wait, how many people have you slept with?" she asked with such curiosity and shock that rue wanted to jump out the window, a pit of embarrassment forming in her stomach, ".....not many."

"yeah, but what's your number?"

"............one."

jules raised her eyebrows in shock, "really? that's it?" she asked and rue blushed, looking down, "m'just not that kinda person, okay?" she mumbled, "well, i gathered that you weren't a hook up kind of person, but i would've thought you'd have a higher body count." jules shrugged and rue looked up, furrowing her eyebrows, "what? why?"

"i dunno, like you're just such a cool person that several people must have wanted to fuck you."

rue laughed at jules' comment, "i'd have to want to fuck them back, which is usually the problem." she muttered and jules scooted closer, too interested in this conversation, "is it because they're not hot?"

".......maybe? i mean, some of them are attractive but its just that wanting to fuck someone is a pretty rare thing for me."

"not to label you, but have you considered that you're demisexual?" jules asked and rue thought for a moment; that made sense actually, she's never felt sexual attraction to someone until she's gotten to know them first, which was still rare but it happened. "i.....i guess that makes sense." she replied, ".....wait, have you ever been in love?"

rue raised her eyebrows at the question, "......have you?"

"i asked first."

"and i asked second."

"ruuuuuue." jules jokingly groaned and rue smiled, looking down at the ground, ".......yeah, just once though." she mumbled and jules' face lit up, "really?! oh my god, who?!" she asked and rue stayed quiet; it's not like she forgot the person's name, that person was always on her mind, but......that person also happened to be right in front of her.

"i-i dunno."

"what's wrong? is it like.....someone you're ashamed of liking?"

"no! no, not at all, they're.....they're fucking amazing." rue immediately replied, jules leaning a little closer, eager to know who rue was thinking about and rue's heart was pounding so intensely that she feared it was going to explode, "you don't have to tell me if you really don't want to, rue, don't feel pressured or anything."

"no, it's fine, just......."

"what is it?"

rue looked into jules' eyes, taking a deep breath as her brain screamed at her to close the small gap between their faces and to just do the thing she has wanted to do for awhile now, and so.....rue leaned forward and pressed her lips to jules', taking the blonde off guard and rue pulled away, immediatley beginning to panic as she saw the extreme shock on jules' face, "i-i'm sorry." she stammered and rue rushed to her feet, "i'm sorry, i-i should just go."

"rue--"

unfortunately, rue didn't hear jules as she had already left the room, leaving the house as fast as she could to avoid the heartbreak that was going to follow, climbing on her bike and speeding to the only place she could think of going.

  
**•••**

  
rue banged on fez's front door, hoping to god that the guy was home as she stood on his porch, probably looking like a complete clown to anyone who was watching; "who is it?!" fez shouted from inside, "it's me." rue responded and it wasn't long before the door opened to reveal fez, who didn't look happy to see her.

"not today, rue, m'sorry." the dealer mumbled and the teenager chuckled a little, "c'mon man, don't be a dick." she muttered and fez just shook his head, "nah, i'm serious." he sighed and rue took a breath, "i-i just need a few oc's and i'll be gone." she replied shakily but fez didn't budge, "sorry kid, i can't help you."

"fez, it's been a really weird fucking day, so can you just give me some fucking drugs?"

"i'm not gonna help you kill yourself, rue."

rue's eyes widened at fez's response, shocked to be hearing that from her fucking drug dealer, "after what happened with jack, i......i'm sorry, but you can't be coming over here no more, alright? just go home." he added and rue froze for a second but then fezco started to close to the door and she panicked, "fez! don't close the--! fuck!" she cried as the door shut in front of her, banging a hand against it. "fez, please open the door." she tried, but was just met with silence, "fez! i-i'm begging you, just open the door!"

more silence was given and rage boiled inside of rue's chest, pissed at herself for making another stupid ass decision that might've just destroyed something amazing and fez for not doing his goddamn job, "are you fucking joking?! you make your damn living off of selling drugs to teenagers! you're a fucking drop out drug dealer with seven functionin brain cells!" she shouted, not getting an answer and she clenched her jaw, banging her fists against the screen door, "open the door!" 

the silence continued much to rue's dismay, "are you doing this because you fucking care about me?! if you gave a single shit about me, you wouldn't have sold me the fucking drugs in the first place! but you fucking did, so open the goddamn door!"

rue felt like an asshole, knowing that the shit she was saying now would be meaningless angry word vomit in the future but now she just wanted some fucking drugs because her main motivation to get clean probably wanted to avoid her at all costs; "open the fucking door!"

"i can't, rue."

"open the door! open the door!"

rue's voice was starting to give, the screaming taking its toll and her voice getting crackly, tears filled her eyes and she didn't even try to suppress her sobs, "open the door." she begged, shaking and crying, "you did this to me! you fucking ruined my life, so open the door and fucking fix it!" the teenager cried as she failed to hold herself together, "i'm serious, i am so _fucking_ serious, if you don't open this door right now; i will hate you. until the day i fucking die."

".........i'm sorry."

rue heard footsteps fade away and she let out a furious shriek, slamming her fists into the door, "you fucking did this to me! open the fucking door, fez!" she cried, kicking and punching the metal door, screaming and begging for her apparently ex-dealer to come back and sell her the drugs she desperately craved, knowing deep down that she wasn't going to get a response no matter how much she cursed and cried but she kept trying until her knuckles bled and she couldn't scream anymore, crumpling to the ground in a mess of tears.


	5. It Makes Me Sick To Think You Ain't Happy In Your Skin

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> rue and jules' relationship is gonna be pretty different from canon but so is the rest of this story so it doesn't relate matter sjdjsjk

rue had never met anyone in her entire life like jules; someone so passionate and creatively driven, so out-going and free-spirited, so caring and willing to listen, so.......perfect.

rue stared at the front doors of her school, knowing that someone was waiting for her inside and there was no way that she could avoid the embarrassing interaction that awaited, no matter how badly she wanted to. with a sigh, rue walked through the doors and made her way through a loud building full of teenagers, heart racing in her chest as she anxiously waited for her eyes to land on a certain student with dip-dyed hair.

as rue turned a corner, she felt someone grab her backpack and quickly pull her into a bathroom, freaking out as her mind raced trying to think of who the hell would grab her like that until she looked at the person, only to see jules quickly locking the door to the empty bathroom so that it stayed empty, "this isn't the best place, but i just needed to talk to you, and you alone, before i lost my damn mind." the girl explained before turning around, rue's heart pounding harder as she stared at her, hopefully still, friend like an idiot.

jules looked a little freaked out too, but she was holding it together a lot better than rue was considering that she was actually able to speak and wasn't just staring, "uh....okay....." jules trailed off, making rue panic and her brain seemed to catch up enough for her to form coherent thoughts, "if you don't want to be friends with me anymore, i won't be mad at you. i-i mean, i made you extremely uncomfortable and--"

the teen's sentence was cut off as jules moved forward, putting a hand on the back of rue's head and pulling her into a kiss, kind of sloppily slamming their lips together and rue froze for a moment, unsure if this was actually happening, but thankfully she snapped out of her daze and her arms found their way around jules' waist, stomach full of happy little butterflies as she leaned into the kiss, it not being long before jules pulled away so that they both could breathe.

"i love you too, rue."

rue let out a laugh, just overwhelmed by her emotions and she rested her head on the blonde's shoulder, hugging jules tightly, "i'm still sorry for just running out like that, i-i just panickied and fight or flight kicked in and just.......i'm a fucking fool and i love you a lot."

jules giggled, pulling away from the hug and putting a hand on rue's cheek after brushing some hair behind her ear, "how about we be lovesick fools together?" she mumbled and rue smiled, putting her forehead against jules', "i'd like that."

  
**•◇•**

  
rue knocked on jack's front door, jules standing beside her as they waited for their friend so they could walk to a halloween party, the two girls dressed in their own costumes; rue as marlene dietrich's character from the movie morocoo and jules wearing juliet's party costume from the modern romio and juliet movie.

the front door creaked open, revealing jack in a basically perfect cosplay of connor's outfit from detroit become human, complete with an l.e.d light and everything; this costume had been something that jack had talked about dozens of times within the past month with such excitement in his voice that the sort of melancholy look on his face confused rue and jules, "jack, you look so good! you even have the little light, that's amazing!"

jack smiled at jules' compliment, "thank you, don't really feel amazing but it's whatever." he shrugged as he shut the door behind him, "then we'll make you feel better." jules smiled as rue put an arm over his shoulders, only for jack to shrug her arm off and walk by himself, the smell of booze suddenly hitting rue like a truck and her heart dropped, "uh.....you kinda.....smell."

jack turned at rue's comment, knowing exactly what she meant and he shrugged, shoving his hands in his pants pockets, "i mean, it's halloween, right? just having some fun."

rue turned to jules, worry filling her girlfriend's face as she watched jack slowly walk down his lawn, and the two shared a look, silently making an agreement to keep an eye on their best friend.

  
**•••**

  
you know when you're with someone and something just doesn't feel right? but, you're too afraid to ask because you worry that the answer could be worse than what you're feeling?; that's how rue felt as she walked beside jack, the boy being a little too quiet as they walked to kat's house so they could "pick" her up.

as far as rue knew, things were going pretty well for jack since he had been un-grounded, aside from the fact that fez stopped selling to him too and he had been pretty pissed about that, but that blew over within a day and things went back to semi-normal; hanging out with rue and jules almost every day, actually gettimg sober and staying sober for more than just a couple days.

but, the ten day streak had apparently ended tonight.

jack knocked on kat's front door, it taking very little time for the door to open, showing their friend dressed as a character from "ms. 45", "holy fuck, you look awesome." jack blurted out, making kat laugh, "shut up, it's whatever." she muttered and jack shrugged, "i think i'm gonna get really fucked up tonight." kat spoke as she walked out on her porch, shutting the door behind her and everyone nodded, "same." jack muttered so low that only rue picked it up.

tonight was going to be rough.

  
**•◇•**

  
rue watched jules, kat, and jack knock back shots of tequila, the curly-haired girl watching from a couple feet away with a pit of worry in her stomach, "ugh, tequila makes me agressive." kat scoffed after swallowing a mouthful of alcohol, jules smiling after swallowing her owm shot, "tequila makes me wanna dance." she grinned and rue smiled, "once i took, like, ten vicodin and drank an entire thing of tequila, so i blacked out for three days---but, i still went to school and did my homework and shit, it was super fucking weird."

jack laughed at rue's story, "same, but with vodka and oxys."

"lets not do that tonight." kat smiled awkwardly and rue waved her off, "i won't, it's all good." she reassued and the brunette smiled, "i won't make any promises." jack mumbled as he filled a solo cup with the whatever was in first alcohol bottle he grabbed before walking off, the three watching him exit the room and rue sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose, "is something......up with him?" kat asked and rue shrugged, "i haven't got a fucking clue, but i'm gonna try to keep an eye on him."

  
**•••**

  
rue plopped down on the couch next to lexi, who was watching jack dance with jules in the living room to obnoxiously loud music, both of them were pretty tipsy at this point and jack seemed really happy......but, the smile on his face made rue feel sick as she know that whatever he had been drinking was the only reason he was smiling so wide.

"i thought jack was sober?" lexi asked as she looked to rue, "i thought so too." she replied sadly, "......is it weird?" lexi asked and rue furrowed her eyebrows in confusion, "is what weird?"

"that all your friends are doing typical teenager stuff and you can't really join them?"

rue shrugged, having made peace with that fact awhile ago and not really caring about it anymore, even though it got a little hard sometimes but she had made it this far, "when i'm an adult, i won't be able to do adult things either." she sighed and lexi nodded, "the fun hasn't been taken away from my life, it's just.....different." she added and lexi smiled in a way that rue could tell that she was proud of her, that knowledge making her smile back.

"rue, guess what!"

rue looked up as she heard jack's voice, seeing the blonde kinda clumsily run over, "what's up?" she asked, "i just saw fez outside!" he beamed with a wide smile, which kinda surprised rue because the last time they talked about fez, jack's tone was the opposite, "really? well, i guess that makes sense." she muttered and jack chugged the last of his drink, "you should come dance with me and jules!" he exclaimed as he grabbed rue's hand, pulling her off the couch, "uh, i-i will in a bit, alright? gimme a sec."

jack nodded at rue's response, going back out the dance floor and rue went to the backyard, seeing fez sitting on the patio furniture near the pool and her heart picked up speed, the last time the two had spoken, things had gone less than pleasant and that fact left a terrible feeling in rue's chest; she really thought of fez as a friend of hers, knowing that he had been there for her for more than just dealing......she couldn't just let their friendship get destroyed because he wasn't her dealer anymore, it wasn't fair to either of them.

with a deep breath, rue walked over to where fez was seated and he looked up after she cleared her throat, "hey, wassup, kid?" he smiled and she fidgeted with her hands, "l-look, i owe you an apology." she mumbled and he waved a hand, "nah, c'mon now, we good." he replied but rue wasn't going to back down, "no, for real man." she sighed as she sat down next to him, "i said some really fucked up shit that i didn't mean."

fez removed the blunt from his mouth, "listen rue, you're a drug addict and i 'on't take nothing a drug addict say personally 'cause i don't believe nothing a drug addict says; i love you, i hate you, you the best, go fuck yourself. it's all the same shit, ya know?"

"yeah, i know, but....as your _friend_ , i need you to know that i'm sorry." rue cooed, giving the guy a small smile, "and i love you." she added and fez smiled back at her, "love you too, kid."

"and thank you.....for not selling me drugs."

"as your friend; i gotchu."

rue pulled her knees up to her chest, looking out at the crowd of people fucking around outside, most if not all of them drunk or high or both, "you sober?" fez asked and rue nodded, "how's that?" he added and she let out a small sigh, "it's weird, i've been fucked up for so long that it kinda feels like a new drug, like.....the highs are high, but the lows are low."

"what about your crew? they doing good too?"

"jules is good, but jack......i dunno."

"he sober too now, right?" fez asked and rue shook her head, "he was." she muttered and as if on cue, rue saw jack stumble out from the house, the led light glued to his temple flashing red as if it knew that he was fucked up and he ripped it off, also tearing off his jacket and shirt before throwing the items on a chair by the pool, leaving him in just a binder and pants, "the hell's he doing?" fez muttered just before jack walked right into the pool.

oh, boy.

rue got up, walking over to the deep end where jack had tumbled in, crouching down and watching jack resurface, "jack, what're you doing?" she asked calmly and jack smiled, "my name is connor, i'm the android sent by cyberlife." he replied, trying to get his voice to match the character's but failing, "i didn't ask _who_ you were, i asked what you were _doing_."

"i'm swimming!"

rue sighed as jack swam away, rubbing a hand over her face, "jack, you're really drunk, okay? can you please get out the pool?" she cooed and jack ignored her, diving under the water and coming back up when he needed air, "c'mon, buddy, lets get you out of the pool." rue tried again as jack swam towards her, "rue, rue, rue, rue; did you know that if you mess up enough in detroit---like, connor dies and gets replaced too many times---hank gets like _super_ upset and talks about his son who died---"

"jack---."

"--- _but_ , if you play the game good and connor only dies once---maybe not even once---then him and hank become like really close and hank's like his dad and they have this really sweet hug at the end of the game, like a fuckin' post-credits scene. it was so precious, dude, oh my _god_!"

"jack, listen to me." rue spoke, trying to get jack to listen to her, "you need to stop, okay? we can talk about the game all you want later, but you need to get out of the pool, alright?" she cooed and jack remained silent, only moving his hand to her pant leg and grabbing onto it, rue practically able to see the gears turning in his head as he tried to get his plan to work, "jack, don't."

jack still kept quiet, only grinning like a drunk idiot as he grabbed her sleeve, "jack, stop. this isn't funny, okay? stop---jack--!"

rue's words were silenced by a loud splash as the blonde yanked her into the pool, the teenage girl scrambling back to the surface only to see that jules had found her way outside and had witnessed the whole thing, rue hearing jack laughing behind her as he seemed very happy with his prank and rue swam over to the steps, climbing out of the pool, "ruuuuuue! come back and swim with me!"

rue ignored jack, shaking off as much water as she could before rushing inside and to the nearest bathroom, shutting the door behind her and taking a deep shaky breath, tears flooding her eyes as she tore off her bow tie and popped open her collar, trying to get some more air as she could feel an attack of some kind manifesting in her chest, not wanting to be too loud as she curled up on the floor and let out a weak sob, burying her face in her knees to stiffle her sobs.

a knock echoed through the room, "rue? it's jules, can i come in?" she heard her girlfriend coo and rue made a small noise to let her know that she could come in, thankfully it was heard and jules stepped inside, shutting and locking the door behind her, bending down next to her and wrapping her arms around her, holding rue to her chest, "it's okay, everything will be okay." she cooed as she pet rue's hair, letting the teenager cry into clothes as she did her best to comfort her, not really knowing what to say.

"i-i just want to help, you know? i want him to be okay and to feel okay, a-and i know that's really fucking hard, but this just sucks. it fucking sucks."

"rue, you can't forget that you're healing too, both of you are getting through this and what's happening to jack right now is just a part of his road to recovery, you know? he'll be okay, just...." jules trailed off, trying to find words as she was kinda drunk and her brain was a little fogged up, ".....it's gonna suck for a bit." she sighed and rue sniffled, lifting her head from jules' chest and the blonde smiled softly at her, wiping tears from her cheeks and rue smiled a little, taking a deep breath, "......i think i should get him home."

"you gonna take him to your house? i can give you my house key if--"

"no, no, i'll sneak him into mine. we'll be fine, just might be a bit tricky."

jules nodded, standing up and offering rue her hand, the teenager taking it and the two left the bathroom, walking out to the living room and seeing jack sitting with lexi on the couch, still pretty wet but with his jacket hanging on his shoulders, holding his shirt and led light, the boy getting up as he saw rue, "are you okay?" he asked as he noticed the tear stains on her face, "y-yeah, i'm fine, jack......i think it's time to go home."

to her surprise, jack nodded and hooked his arm around rue's, "......s'okay if i stay at your place tonight?" he mumbled and rue smiled, "yeah, it's totally fine, dude."

  
**•◇•**

  
rue helped jack climb in through her bedroom window, trying to keep their noise level down as to not wake up anyone else in her house as it was nearing midnight and they smelled like alcohol and chlorine; that would be very difficult to explain.

"you're okay with wearing some of my stuff? you're still soaked."

jack just nodded at rue's question, tossing his jacket onto a chair and wrapping his arms around himself as rue dug through her closet, grabbing an oversized shirt and basketball shorts before tossing them onto her bed for jack to take, which he did and she made sure to look away as he changed, grabbing clothes for herself and quickly changing inside of her closet.

"y'can look now." jack mumbled as he sat down on rue's bed, the teenage girl turning around at his voice and she gave him a small smile as she walked over, "you need anything? water, maybe?" she asked and the blonde shook his head, laying down and curling up underneath the blanket, hugging himself and rue laid down beside him, the room going silent and she figured that jack was trying to sleep, so she tried to do the same.

but, after a few minutes passed, she heard a tiny sniffle and rue turned to jack, putting a hand on his shoulder, "hey, what's wrong?"

"i.....i'm so sorry."

"what're you sorry for? you didn't do anything."

"don't act like i didn't fucking ruin everyone's night, rue." jack whispered, anger in his tone but it definitely wasn't directed at rue, it was all at himself. "i-i got fucking drunk as hell and now you're taking care of me like a fucking baby which isn't fair to you because you're still doing so fucking well and staying clean, b-but i couldn't even go ten fucking days." he rambled and rue gently rolled him onto his back, seeing tears pouring down his cheeks and she pulled him into her chest, hugging her friend tightly and he let out a faint sob, clinging to her. "i'm such a fucking asshole, what the fuck is wrong with me?"

"you're not an asshole for relapsing, recovery isn't easy for anyone and i bet if you asked any of the people who goes to the same meetings we go to, they'd say that they've relapsed before."

jack sniffled, shaking a little in rue's arms as he tried to hold back sobs, "but you're doing so good, so fucking good, an-and i'm just fucking up everything and washing xanax down with vodka." he mumbled, looking everywhere but rue's eyes because he was so ashamed of what he had done today that looking his friend in the eye was nauseating, "its just so fucked up of me to do after everything that's happened."

rue wiped tears away from jack's cheeks, "nobody is mad at you, jack, we all know that you're doing your best and none of us are mad at you for relapsing tonight, you're going to get better eventuay."

"........what if i don't?"

"why wouldn't you?"

".......i wasn't clean for ten days, rue, i-it was more like five days......"

rue's heart sank at jack's words, hating that he lied to her but not mad at him for it, just wishing that she had known the truth, "i-i had some stuff left and i just took it until i ran out.....not to mention that my parents both have prescriptions for shit and i just.......i-i can't fucking do it, rue, i'm so fucking weak and pathetic and i just can't do it." the blonde explained, breaking down into sobs near the end and rue held him tightly, feeling his hot tears soak into her shirt as he weeped into her shoulder, the teenage girl gently rubbing his back to try and comfort him.

"you're stronger than you think, jack, you'll get better eventually, i know you will."

"h-how do you know?"

"i know you will because i also know that shit's gonna suck at times, you'll feel like you're gonna be trapped like this forever, but you won't. you're better than you think, you'll get through this and everyone is here to help you. you're not alone, jack, and you will get better, i can promise that."

jack didn't respond, just burying his face in rue's shoulder as he tried to stop the tears from pouring down his cheeks and rue just held onto him, getting into a position where both of them could be more comfortable and she gently rubbed her friend's back until the two of them eventually drifted off to sleep.


	6. Perfect Little Pictures Of Moments That We Missed

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> things are getting places and im sorry that it took me so long to write this chapter i hit a wall and i hit it HARD  
> •×•  
> this chapter and forward is based off this edit ive made : https://www.instagram.com/p/CDFEfsQnvmj/?igshid=11lpgibo2y9ch

rue walked out to the front of the school, hands in her jacket pockets as she made her way to the bench jules was sitting on as she waited for the bus, the blonde looking up and smiling once she saw rue, furrowing her eyebrows a second later, "where's jack?" she asked as the brunette sat down next to her, rue letting out a small sigh, "went home early, got pretty sick during fifth period."

jules frowned a little, nodding and rue put her head on her girlfriend's shoulder, "i'm really fucking worried about him." she muttered; it had been a couple weeks since the halloween party and jack's struggling seemed to be even more noticeable now that he had told her about everything, for instance when he walked into school today, rue immediately could tell that the short clean streak jack had was destroyed.

even if she hadn't noticed then, she would've when she saw him puke his guts out during gym, she was the one who had taken him to the nurse after all.

"i know that this is all just a part of recovery, but it's just weird. like, i'm doing fine---well, not fine exactly but i'm getting close to two months now and i just don't get how different we're dealing with all this." she sighed, wishing that she knew how to help her friend but she had reached a dead end in terms of aiding him, she was doing what she could but when the person you're trying to help doesn't reach out for it, you can't really do much, "well, what's different about you and him?"

"what do you mean?"

"like, what do you have to help you that he doesn't?"

rue thought for a moment before shrugging, "we have the same stuff, honestly; his family is supportive and helpful like mine is, you are there for me and for him, we're both going to n.a. unless there's something i'm missing, i don't think there's anything." she sighed and jules nodded, looking down at the ground before her eyes widened and she looked up, "wait, he doesn't have me!"

"......what?"

"i mean he does have me, but not in the same way as you do. you're dating me, rue, i'm just a friend to him. it's a completely different form of support." jules explained and rue's eyes widened a bit as she realized that jules was getting at something, "you are my main source of motivation for all of this.....guess he doesn't really have that." she mumbled, "but, how can he get that? it's not like we can just find some dude to hook him up with and get him motivated to get clean."

"well, we don't have to hook him up with someone, just introduce him to someone and watch magic happen."

rue chuckled at jules' response, "yeah, and how are we gonna do that?"

jules thought for a moment and rue could practically see a lightbulb form above her head before the blonde turned to her, "you're visiting your sister up in queens soon, right?" she asked and rue nodded, but furrowed her eyebrows, "jules, he's gay and mj is my identical twin, why would i set him up with her?"

okay, this probably sounds random as hell and weird, but let me explain; mj, or michelle jones bennett, was actually born and raised under the same roof as rue and gia, but since she's so crazy smart, she had applied to go to midtown tech up in new york and when the first year of highschool started, mj had moved to queens to live with their aunt so that she could attend a school fit for her and every year, rue goes up to queens for the first week of winter break and then mj flies back with her and visits for the second week, so that she can spend christmas with her mother and sisters.

"what? no, i'm not saying to set him up with mj, that's weird. i'm talking about peter." jules clarified and rue raised an eyebrow, "that dweeby friend of hers?" she asked and jules nodded with a smile, "think about it! him and jack are so similar, plus he's cute as fuck, i'm positive that jack would adore him."

"i dunno, jules......"

"c'mon, rue! you were saying how you got a spare ticket now because gia decided against going this year because of some school shit that got in the way, so why don't you just ask him to come instead? plus, even if they don't fall in love, jack gets a nice break which i'm sure he'd appreciate."

rue let out a sigh, knowing that jules had a point and she nodded, "i'll bring it up with my mom and i'll ask jack tomorrow." she mumbled and jules grinned, looking up as the bus pulled up in front of them and she stood up, grabbing rue's hand and the two walked towards the bus, climbing on.

  
**•◇•**

  
jack followed rue throughout the queens airport, the teenage girl knowing this place much more than he did as he had never even left the state he grew up in.

the night of the halloween party was so embarrassing for him to think about, just breaking down in rue's arms and admitting that he's a fucking pathetic asshole that can't even go half a week without ruining his clean streak---if you can even call it a streak. it really just felt like that no matter how hard he actually tried, everything fell apart inside of him and he was going through his parents' medecine cabinet to steal from their prescriptions.

it was weird actually, something in jack was making him feel like he was alone with this even though he really wasn't; there was rue, jules, maggie, his mom, his dad, literally everyone at the na meetings.......but, despite all that, there was a hole in jack's chest that continued to grow.

"RUE!"

jack snapped out of his thoughts as he heard someone scream, looking up and seeing a girl who looked exactly like rue just with a different fashion sense run towards them from the baggage claim, rue running towards her and meeting her half way, the two girls crashing into a hug and jack smiled at how happy they looked, making his way over.

"how've you been?" rue smiled as she pulled away from the girl that jack figured was her sister and she shrugged, "it's been fine, school just ended so a bunch of exam stress is gone, but i don't wanna bore the fuck out of you." she mumbled and rue chuckled, "you on the other hand have a girlfriend you need to tell me all about."

"oh my god, stop."

the girl laughed before she looked over to jack, smiling and holding out a hand, "i'm mj." she smiled and jack took her hand, shaking it, "i'm jack."

  
**•••**

  
a brightside to this trip was that jack wasn't going to be drug tested for returning home really late from a party that his parents didn't even know about; while jack feels that he isn't really a party person, he seemed to make friends with party people and always found himself at the house of someone he's met maybe once.

but, the catch to his parents not being there to drug test him, there was rue to get worried as she sees him fuck up everything all over again and that was almost worse; rue has done so great and been through so much worse, but jack was just being the biggest dick.

and, with that being said, there was a dime bag of white powder and another with two psychedelics in his jacket pocket that he had found in the very back of his desk drawer back home that he somehow managed to get past airport security as mj drove him and rue to an end-of-the-semester party that a student she knew was having.

"jay, do you want me to answer your phone? it keeps buzzing." rue mumbled as michelle's phone vibrated in her cupholder, the teenager unable to answer as she was driving, "yeah, it's probably peter asking when i'm gonna pick him up because he's an impatient bastard."

rue chuckled as she picked up mj's phone, quickly typing a reply, "hey jack, you're finally gonna meet someone as dweeby as you."

"what do you mean "finally"? i'm friends with you, aren't i?"

mj let out a laugh as rue gawked, faking offense as she put a hand to her chest, "i mean, he's right."

"i can't trust fucking anyone anymore."

jack scoffed as mj pulled up outside of an apartment building, honking her horn obnoxiously before picking up her phone, quickly texting peter that she was here and jack leaned closer to the window so he could who peter was, it taking a minute before the door to the lobby of the apartment opened up and a brunette in jeans, a shirt with some stupid pun on it, and a denim jacket with pins and patches all over it, began walking to the car.

"remember me, asshat?"

"i have a name, rue." the boy, or peter, mumbled as he climbed into the car, "that's not as fun, though." rue whined and jack rolled his eyes, "the only person she calls by their actual name is her girlfriend." he mumbled and rue reached back and playfully slapped his leg, "stop bullying me!"

"says the one who's hitting me!"

"this is why i moved." mj sighed as she began driving, jack looking to peter before holding his hand out, "my name is jack." he smiled and peter shook his hand, "i'm peter."

  
**•◇•**

  
jack clumsily climbed up the party host's, who he learned was named liz, staircase, passing other drunk and/or high students as he made his way to the bathroom, thankful that the room was vacant and he shut the door behind him, pulling out the powder dime bag and collecting some of the dust on his keys, sniffing it off a few times before putting the stuff away, looking up at the mirror.

this was pathetic, what was he even doing? hiding in a bathroom of a stranger's house and using her party as an excuse to get so crossfaded that everything went blurry all while whatever chance he had at making a couple new friends went out the window as they witnessed how shitty he was and he humiliated his best friend? wouldn't be the first time he'd done something like this but he kinda wished it would be the last.

with a sigh, jack left the bathroom walked back down the stairs, making a quick stop at the kitchen to grab himself a drink before going outside and finding rue sitting on some outdoor furniture by the pool with her sister and peter and a couple other people jack didn't know, but he went over anyway and sat next to rue, who immediately took notice of him and put an arm around his shoulders, "you doing okay?" she whispered and he smiled at her, nodding.

they hadn't been at this party for very long, maybe a little over two hours, and rue seemed to be having a good time, it wasn't like jack wasn't but she was spending time with people she had known for awhile and jack couldn't help but feel like he was alone again. and since he wasn't miserable, just a little dizzy because he was riding a high and was on his fourth drink, he wasn't going to ruin everyone's night.

"aye, penis made it!"

"oh god." peter groaned at whoever had just shouted, jack looking over and seeing a male student who just screamed douchebag walk over to them, "didn't think you'd come, parker, figured your mommy wouldn't want you out this late." he smirked and jack grimaced, seeing that everyone sitting with him seemed to hate this asshole, "fuck off." rue groaned before sipping her soda, the student looking over to her and jack and his eyes widened in a way that jack really hated, "why hello, don't think i've met jones 2.0 before."

"if you're trying to get with me, it's pathetic that you'd think you even have a chance."

"what's wrong with me talking to a pretty girl like you?" the student asked as he stepped closer and jack rolled his eyes, "because that girl you're talking to is my sister and is already taken, flash." mj interjected and flash, apparently, waved her off, "who said he's got to know anything?" he smirked as he stared at rue, definitely not looking at her face, "oh, i'm definitely telling _her_ about you."

"hot."

jack sat up, having enough with this prick, "get the fuck out of here, dude." he mumbled and flash rolled his eyes, "and who the hell are you?" he asked with the most annoying tone ever and jack really wanted to punch this guy, "i'm someone who's telling a fucking creep to leave my friend the fuck alone, so get the hell away from us before i have to force you to leave."

"like you can do anything."

jack stood up, stepping towards flash, "leave us. the fuck. alone." he spat and flash laughed, shoving at jack's chest and the blonde shoved back, resulting in flash stumbling backwards and beginning to fall into the pool, but his reaction time was quick enough for him to grab jack's shirt and pull him in with him, "shit-! jack!" rue cried as she saw her friend get dragged into the pool and she jumped out of her seat, only to see flash kick jack pretty aggressively under the water before the prick got to the surface and climbed out by himself.

jack surfaced, coughing and gasping for air as he did so before making his way to the side of the pool, rue offering a hand and helping him out, "you okay?" she asked only to see the blonde go completely pale and shakily stand up, leaning over a nearby trash can and throwing up alcohol and pool water, rue sighing a little before walking over to him and rubbing his back, "you want me to take you home, jack?"

jack shook his head at mj's question, "you an' rue are havin' fun......m'fine." he slurred as he sat down on the ground with his head in his hands, suddenly feeling very nauseous and dizzy, realizing that he has eaten way too little today for the amount he had drank tonight, "jack, you're not fine." rue cooed and jack waved her off, "i will be, s'all good."

"i can take him home, i've only had one drink and that was hours ago, plus i don't live that far and liz still has my bike in her garage from yesterday when i came for decathlon shit and forgot it."

rue looked up at peter, "i'll take him, it's---"

"i know i've only known him for like four hours, but if he's stubborn enough there is no way he's going to let you leave right now." peter shrugged and jack looked up, "i said i was fine." he sighed and peter gave rue a look that very clearly said "see?" and the teenager sighed, "jack, you're soaking wet and on the edge of fainting. peter's gonna take you home and i'll swing by later, alright?"

"rue---"

"my guy, you don't get to object here."

jack let out a heavy sigh, ".......just have some fun while i'm gone, okay?" he mumbled and rue rolled her eyes but smiled, "you got it." she cooed as she helped him to his feet, jack almost falling right back down as his body just didn't have enough energy in it's system to combat the drugs, and mj rushed to the other side of him, putting his other arm over her shoulders to keep him standing.

rue and mj lead jack outisde, peter following behind them and making a quick stop in liz's garage to pull his bike out, "we'll call you soon, okay?" she mumbled and peter nodded, "i'll take him to mine and he can crash on my bed until you come by." he smiled and rue looked up at peter as he mounted the bike, jack doing the same and wrapping his arms around peter's waist to stay stable, "please make sure he doesn't, like, die or some shit."

"he's in good hands, rue."

"thanks, pete." she smiled and peter waved before beginning to pedal away, rue watching until she couldn't see them anymore and mj wrapped an arm around her twin's shoulder, hugging her a bit for comfort before the two made their way back inside.

  
**•••**

  
"easy, easy." peter cooed as he helped guide jack through his apartment, the blonde stumbling a little but not completely relying on peter for balance, still dizzy as hell but less so than before; "uh....your parents gonna be mad about me being here?" he whispered, hoping that he wouldn't make a fool of himself infront of adults that would call his parents to inform them that a drunk teenager has invaded their home, "no, my aunt's pretty chill and she's picking up a late shift at work, you're good."

jack followed peter into the bedroom and sitting down on the nearby desk chair, taking off his jacket and peter took it from him, hanging it on the ladder of his bunk bed that only had one mattress, "you're still kinda dripping, lemme get you some clothes." he mumbled and jack looked up to see peter go into his closet, "i'm not gonna steal your clothes, dude." he replied and peter shrugged, "don't worry about it, you need something that actually feels comfortable."

jack smiled a little, breathing heavy through his nose and silently watching as peter searched through his closet and drawers before the brunette turned around with a tshirt and shorts in his hands, "the bathroom is the door at the end of the hallway, i'll get you a plastic bag to put your clothes in." he informed as he handed jack the pile of clothes and the blonde nodded, getting up and letting his head stop spinning before he walked to the bathroom.

once he locked the door, jack immediately began taking his soaked clothes off, grimacing as he had to peel off his binder and jeans, wishing that he had just punched flash in the face instead of pushed him because at least that way he wouldn't be drenched maybe just have a bloody nose at the worst.

after getting changed, jack glanced at the medecine cabinet and stared at his reflection in the mirror, debating whether or not to look inside but miraculously he managed to shove that urge down and he grabbed his pile of wet clothes, making his way back to peter's room and seeing the brunette sitting on his bed, also having changed and he looked up at jack's entrance, "there's a plastic bag on my desk for you to put your clothes in, and some water and tylenol if your head hurts."

"you're way too nice for someone who just met me."

peter chuckled a little, shrugging, "don't want you to be miserable or some shit, you know?"

jack smiled, putting his clothes in the bag and tying it shut, taking the tylenol and washing it down with the water, "uh, not that you haven't done plenty already, but do you have like a blanket i could borrow? for the couch?" the blonde asked and peter furrowed his eyebrows, "you can sleep in my bed."

"i don't wanna kick you out of your own room, peter."

"no, like......if you're comfortable with it, we can both sleep in my bed."

jack blushed a little, "o-oh yeah, that's....yeah." he mumbled before sitting on the bed with peter, laying down and before getting under the blanket, peter laying down next to him and finishing up whatever he was doing on his phone before putting it down, getting comfortable and he looked at jack, giving him a small smile, "did you at least have fun before flash nearly drowned you?"

jack chuckled, "yeah, tonight wasn't a total dumpster fire."

peter smiled and the room fell silent, jack's eyes falling on his jacket that was hanging on the ladder nearby and he remembered the contents inside the pocket, sitting up on the bed and reaching for his jacket, digging inside the pocket and feeling the two dime bags, taking out the bag with the sense distorters inside and he looked at the two little white pills with stars etched onto them.

"......i've got an idea."

"what?"

"wanna get high?"

peter propped himself up on his elbows as he looked to jack, the blonde holding out the bag to show him and peter furrowed his eyebrows, "what are those?" he mumbled and jack shrugged, "i dunno, some shit i got from my dealer before he stopped selling to me."

"wait, stopped selling to you?"

jack waved his hand, "details don't really matter, it's a long story."

peter smiled awkwardly, still furrowing his eyebrows, "i.....feel like this isn't the best idea." he muttered and jack made a face, "i mean you're probably right, but i have to disagree." he replied and peter chuckled, letting out a small huff before holding his hand, "we'll just have to see if this is a bad idea or not.


	7. I've Met Someone That Makes Me Feel Seasick

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this is a shitty filler chapter but im trying to figure out how this plays out so bare with me skdkskd

the week that jack and rue stayed in queens sped by way too quickly in jack's opinion, days felt like hours rather and hours felt like minutes and before he knew it, him and the twins were on a flight back home for christmas week.

when he was on his way to queens, he thought that the trip wasn't going to be as great as he wanted, that he'd just feel terribly alone while rue had fun with her sister and her sister's friends, but actually things went incredibly---well, except for the night he was nearly drowned by a prick and he went home with someone he had only known for a couple hours, but honestly that night wasn't all too bad because he and peter bonded almost instantly.

during that week where he spent almost every day with mj, rue, and peter, he didn't feel all that alone anymore. there was just something about having peter around that made jack realize that things weren't as fucked up as he made them seem; something in the way that peter and him talked about their interests, or the way that peter was so fucking genuine and kind, or the way that peter was a total fool but also was attending a school meant for the gifted kids that didn't burn out in middle school.

there was just something about _peter._

jack looked down at his forearm as him and the twins waited for leslie to come to the airport to pick them up, the blonde seeing the messy but still readable numbers that peter scribbled on his arm, the brunette having quickly written his phone number down before jack left because he had realized that they never exchanged numbers, and while he had a sharpie, he didn't have paper so he grabbed jack's arm and wrote it down; "i guess peter forgot that it was the twenty first century and that he could just put his number in your phone."

jack looked up at mj's words, laughing a little as he shrugged, "its whatever, i can wash it off."

"JACK!"

the three teenagers looked up at the sound of a girl's voice, jack smiling wide as he saw his little sister and gia running towards the group from the parking lot, leslie following behind the two and jack stood up, opening his arms as maggie jumped into his arms, hugging him tightly, "missed you too, mags." he chuckled as she clung to him like a koala, legs wrapped around him and all, looking over her shoulder to see the bennett's in a group hug; everyone was clearly very happy to see each other.

"you were gone for so long."

"it was just a week, kiddo."

"yeah, the longest week _ever_."

jack laughed as his sister got back on her feet and pulled away, looking over to his friends to see leslie pulling away from mj's arms, "you all have a good trip?" she asked loud enough for all teenagers to hear, the three nodding with smiles and rue looked to jack, "i think jack had the most fun out of all of us." she teased with a smirk and he rolled his eyes, "can you not make fun of me for, like, ten minutes?" he groaned and rue shook her head, "you decided to befriend me, buddy."

"all right, all right, let's get going."

at leslie's words, the three teen's grabbed their bags and everyone headed to the car, maggie holding onto her brother's arm and getting a look at the sharpie doodled onto him, "did you have fun because you got a boyfriend?" she asked as she held up his forearm, the blonde blushing a little and hearing his friends laughing at maggie's question, "no, i didn't get a boyfriend. just a friend, you dork."

maggie smirked a little, "friend, _right_."

**•◇•**

rue didn't think that jules' "plan" would actually work, but by the time christmas break was over and they were back at school; jack had fallen in love.

since they couldn't speak in person, jack and peter were messaging each other constantly and from rue and jules' perspective, it was almost like the blonde was never off his phone anymore, always texting peter with a tiny smile on his face. not like the girls were complaining about it, they'd been so obvious in jack's face for the past few months after all.

over the past couple weeks, jack had been looking what was probably the happiest that rue had seen him since they became friends, or the happiest she had seen him sober.

"i'm not in love with him." jack scoffed as him and rue walked to the bike racks, "i just think he's cool." he added and rue chuckled, "yeah because the kid who wears science pun tshirts is cool." she mumbled and jack rolled his eyes, "shut up, you dress like seth rogen."

"and you dress like luke hemmings but you don't see me bitching."

jack laughed, unlocking his bike from one of the racks, "whatever, i'm not in love with him." he mumbled and rue smiled, but kept quiet as she grabbed her bike; she knew she was right, but she's also known that jack is stubborn as fuck.

**•••**

  
jack's never met anyone in his entire life like peter; sure, he's had and still has great friends, but peter was different. not that it was a bad difference, all his friends were pretty damn awesome, but peter made him feel like all the evil in the world had ceased to exist and everything was beautiful.

nobody has made him feel like that before.

jack climbed off his bike as he pulled up to the church, locking his bike to the ramp's railing before making his way inside, seeing rue sitting on one the chairs and he made his way over, sitting down next to her and she smiled as she saw him, "sorry for being a little late." he mumbled and she shrugged, "you showed up, that's what matters here."

"any volunteers for today's share?" the runner of the narcotics anonymous meetings asked from the front of the room with a soft smile and jack hesitantly raised his hand, taking rue by surprise, "go right ahead, jack." the woman smiled and the blonde stood up, walking to the front of the room and raising his hand in a wave, "uh.....h-hey everyone, i'm jack and i'm an addict."

"hi jack."

jack shoved his hands in his pockets, trying to keep his cool as he gathered the words he wanted to share in his head, "i guess i just wanna start off by saying i'm sorry.....for lying. i-i know that i haven't been here for very long, but pretty much everytime i showed up here and collected a chip; whether it be ten days or five weeks, i was lying.......and i hope you can forgive me for that." he spoke, smiling a little at the crowd of people who were listening to him as he tried to keep his courage up, "but, as of today, i've been clean for two weeks."

a wide smile spread on rue's face as she and the crowd clapped for him, which made jack blush a little and smile down at the floor, "it hasn't been easy, but i've had plenty of support and, uh......i met someone and he's helped a lot and has made me actually want to stay clean. and, i-i dunno if that's just me clinging onto a false hope." he spoke, voice beginning to shake, "after all, we're just a couple of highschoolers and usually that shit doesn't last, but......this is the first time in awhile that being sober hasn't been actual hell, so i hope things continue to be as good as they feel...........thank you."

the crowd began clapping again as jack walked back to his seat, letting out a small sigh as he leaned his head back against his seat, rue giving him a loving pat on the shoulder and he smiled, leaning his head on her shoulder.

**Author's Note:**

> don't mind the spelling/grammar mistakes. i'm lazy by nature and don't pay attention to things.


End file.
